Caretaker Govt must reconsider rejection of Carter Center – Int’l Center for Democracy

…calls out GECOM Chair for private meeting with Granger

The International Center for Democracy (ICD) on Monday denounced the decision by the David Granger-ed caretaker Government to not allow the Carter Center to return to Guyana to complete their mission in observing the national elections recount.
It noted that the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on Guyana and the world at large was fully understood, but condemned Granger for using these restrictions as the main reason for the Center’s rejection. According to the pro-democracy group, it is appalled that the caretaker Government would “deny a request from the highest United States of America representative in Guyana, the Honourable US Ambassador Sarah Lynch, who has painstakingly outlined in her diplomatic note her assurance that the Carter Center Observers will comply with all necessary screening and health clearance requirements before the observers depart from the United States to Guyana.”
The ABCE countries, Caricom, international and local observer groups have all declared that the electoral process at the polling stations on March 2, 2020 were free, fair and transparent. However, it was the tabulation process and declaration for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) that were not transparent and lacked credibility. The ICD called for a reconsideration of the decision for Carter Center and other international observer groups to return to Guyana.

Private meeting
Meanwhile, the ICD has also called out the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh for the private meeting that was held with Granger and senior GECOM staff and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) representative on May 17, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). Such a meeting, it noted, further undermines GECOM’s credibility and supports the notion of the ABCE countries, international and local observers, competing political parties and Guyanese as a whole that GECOM was not operating as an independent body and was indeed being negatively influenced by the President and the APNU.
“Excluded from this meeting were the GECOM Commissioners. The people of Guyana and the political parties do not have confidence in the Guyana Elections Commission and senior GECOM staff that they will be impartial in overseeing the recount process in a free, fair and transparent manner and are not influenced by any political party,” the ICD stated.
It demanded that all parties must direct their representatives to stop spreading propaganda information to tarnish or discredit the validity of the electoral recount progress, adding that GECOM staff must be allowed to do their job without being negatively influenced by any political party and/or their representatives.