ABCE looks forward to working with President Irfaan Ali

…urges new Govt to urgently address COVID-19, national development

Representatives of the ABCE countries – United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada and European Union (EU) – who had over the past five months stood up for Guyana’s democracy, are looking forward to working with new President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali and have urged his Administration to urgently start tackling critical issues like COVID-19.

Dr Ali was sworn in at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC) on Sunday by Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, on Sunday in the presence of a number of members of the diplomatic community including US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch, UK High Commissioner Greg Quinn, Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee and EU Ambassador Fernando Ponz-Canto.
In a joint statement shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, the diplomats representing the ABCE countries congratulated President Ali and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) on its victory and also thanked former President David Granger for finally accepting the results “as befits the dignity of his office.”

Immediate challenges
The diplomatic community noted that much needs to be done by the new Government, in terms of addressing the social and economic needs of the people, and pledged their support for Guyana’s future development.
“We look forward to working with President Ali and his Government as it confronts many immediate challenges, including the need to address the social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the development needs of Guyana’s people,” the ABCE representatives stated.
The diplomats noted that they also look forward to seeing the new Government at its onset reach across political divisions to unite Guyanese of all ethnicities, races and regions, around meaningful progress on constitutional reform and reconciliation. “As friends of Guyana, we look forward to working with all to continue to support Guyana’s development for the benefit of all its people,” the envoys added.

Upholding Guyana’s
Constitution
Besides President Ali and the PPP/C, the diplomats also extended thanks to all the other parties and observers (domestic and international), as well as Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, who declared Ali the President and initiated the process for him to be sworn in.
It was Justice Singh who persisted despite numerous attempts to undermine her, in ensuring that the certified results of the recount were used to declare the President. The ABCE country representatives, therefore, thanked her for her courage in upholding Guyana’s Constitution.
All four ABCE diplomats have, in fact, played crucial roles in ensuring that democracy prevailed in Guyana. One of the most pivotal moments in the elections was on March 13, when the four diplomats walked out of the tabulation process for District Four at the Region Four command centre in Ashmins building.
At the time, former Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo was using figures that did not correspond with the Statements of Poll (SoPs) in the possession of political party representatives and observers, to tabulate and make a declaration.
Mingo’s figures would have resulted in a win for the APNU/AFC. The diplomats registered their disapproval and non-acceptance of the RO’s conduct by walking out and subsequently issuing a strongly-worded statement alerting Guyana and the world to what was happening.
“We are concerned about intimidation tactics we observed against those seeking to ensure that a credible process is followed. We must be clear that in the absence of a credible process, as directed by the Honorable Chief Justice, it is our view that any results for Region 4 which will impact the overall results of the 2 March elections will not be credible and a President sworn in on the basis of those results will not be considered legitimate,” the diplomats had said in their statement.
The rest is history. The lack of credibility in Mingo’s two declarations resulted in then Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and then President David Granger agreeing to a National Recount, which eventually showed that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 217,920.
Amid APNU/AFC’s refusal to accept the results, the ABCE countries and other international and regional partners had maintained pressure on the former Government to concede defeat. This was especially the case with the US, which led the way by slapping visa restrictions on a number of senior functionaries who it deemed to be “undermining democracy” in Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Government supported both the Caricom team and the Carter Center on their observation mission to Guyana in addition to technical support to GECOM.
Speaking with Guyana Times after the swearing-in of Dr Ali, Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee said that she is happy democracy has prevailed and that the will of the people was upheld, adding that Canada is proud to have offered its support to the Guyanese people.