Bar Association congratulates GECOM on recount efficiency and transparency

The Guyana Bar Association (GBA) on Saturday issued a statement applauding the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on the efficiency and transparency with which the electoral body carried out the recently concluded recount and tabulation process, and called on political parties to accept the results of the September 1 General and Regional Elections now that the tabulation and district declarations have concluded.
According to the Association’s statement, given their observation of the elections process including the recount, of Sub-district four of District four and 77 boxes of District five, the Association is “satisfied that GECOM addressed challenges and difficulties professionally, and within the law”.
“The Bar Association wishes to congratulate GECOM for the manner in which the tabulation and recount were carried out, the efficiency with which they were completed and for the transparency of the process. It recognises that GECOM officials worked with patience and calm in trying circumstances, including heat and space, without adding any undue escalation,” the statement said.
“The Bar Association of Guyana wishes to thank its volunteers for their selfless dedication to observing the process at every stage. It urges all political parties who contested the elections to accept the results of those elections for a peaceful and speedy return to normalcy,” the Association added.
The GBA was among a number of local and international observers that fielded teams to carry out observations before, during and after elections day last Monday. Observing the counting of votes at the polling stations, as well as the tabulation of the Statement of Polls (SOPs) for the various districts.
Several international observers have already released their preliminary findings, also commending the elections.
Earlier this week the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) described the September 1 polls as being conducted in a peaceful and orderly fashion, with high levels of professionalism by polling staff across the country. The EU visited more than 250 polling stations across all 10 regions, including coastal communities and indigenous villages in the hinterland. An Electoral Observer Mission from the Organisation of American States (OAS) and a CARICOM Elections Observer Mission (CEOM) all subsequently also described the elections as peaceful, orderly and without significant incident. With a smooth elections process Guyanese are now only awaiting the official declaration of the results for the country to move forward. However, several Opposition political parties have been called out for employing delaying tactics and attempting to smear the elections. Following the conclusion on Friday night of approved recounts of Sub-district four of District four and 77 boxes of District five, that was sought by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), all 10 voting districts across Guyana have declared their official results for the elections, which shows a win for the People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C), giving a second term to President Dr Irfaan Ali.
In an ironic twist, the recount saw the APNU losing votes. The GECOM Chairperson, (Ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh on Friday night called a meeting of the seven GECOM Commissioners to certify the election results. However, the three GECOM Opposition Commissioners – Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman – were a no-show in what has been seen as a delaying tactic since a quorum could not be reached for the meeting to proceed. At Friday’s meeting a quorum required at least two commissioners from the Government and two from the opposition to be present. However, the law provides that if a second meeting occurs, a quorum is met by the presence of any four Commissioners, including the Chairman, whether opposition or Government. Another meeting has been called for Saturday night at 23:00hrs, after which it is expected that the official declaration will be made, setting the stage for President Dr Ali to be sworn in by the Chancellor of the Judiciary as Guyana’s 9th Executive President. In anticipation of Saturday night’s declaration an inauguration Ceremony has been set for 10:00hrs on Sunday at State House in Georgetown.