India calls for political parties to respect election results

One of Guyana’s major bilateral partners, India, has joined calls for the protracted electoral process in the country to come to an end.

In a statement from New Delhi on Saturday, India said it has been closely following the developments of the March 2 General and Regional Elections in Guyana.
The country said: “As a time-tested friend of Guyana, India looks forward to the early conclusion of the electoral process in the interest of democracy in Guyana.”
The country also expressed hopes that the outcome of the election is respected by all parties.

In a previous statement on Guyana’s electoral situation, India’s spokesperson of India’s External Affairs Ministry, Raveesh Kumar had stated that it is important for Guyana’s electoral processes to be credible, fair and transparent.
India joins a wide range of several other countries and international organisations including the ABCE (America, Britain, Canada and the European Union) powers in calling for a swift conclusion to Guyana’s prolonged elections.
Guyana’s unprecedented electoral impasse has attracted attention from as far as Norway and France – both previously urging a swift conclusion of the electoral process.
Regional nations situated in the Caribbean and South America have also weighed in – with the latest being the South American regional bloc Progress and Integration of South America (PROSUR) – comprising of countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru – calling for the swift conclusion of the elections in Guyana.
The Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has won the elections with 233,336 votes and this was confirmed by a National Recount exercise which was agreed to by the caretaker President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
The recount, which was conducted under the auspices of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), was initiated following the discovery of massive irregularities in the tabulation process for the country’s largest electoral district, Region Four – where votes were being heavily inflated in favour of the incumbent APNU/AFC coalition.
But the coalition is refusing to accept the recount results and instead wants a declaration made on the basis of the fraudulent figures coming out of the tainted tabulation process.
But the international community has already made it clear that the only democratic solution to this electoral impasse is for the recount results – which were derived from a transparent process – be used as the basis for a declaration.
In fact, the APNU/AFC coalition has been accused of undermining democracy in Guyana and some of its members have been slapped with visa restrictions by the USA for failing to uphold democratic principles.
At this juncture, the election is presently being delayed by a legal challenge filed by the APNU/AFC coalition supporter Misenga Jones, who is seeking to bar the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from declaring the winner of the elections using the recount results.
Guyana’s Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George had ruled on Monday last that only the recount results can be used as the basis for the declaration. Jones is challenging that judgment in the Appeal Court.
The Appeal Court, which heard the arguments on Saturday, has set Thursday, July 30, to deliver its ruling. (G11)