Joining a wide range of global leaders in urging that democracy prevails in Guyana, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is calling for the legitimately-elected government to be sworn in.
Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit
PM Skerrit, who was among five Caricom leaders who had visited Guyana in a bid to resolve the dispute, said that it was important for the people of the country to know which government had been elected to chart the way forward.
“Guyana’s elections were held in March of this year and up to this day, they have not yet been able to declare officially a winner of the elections,” Skerrit is quoted as saying in a CMC report.
He said the Caricom delegation that was headed by Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who was then Caricom Chairman, thought the matter had been solved after its visit and talks with the various stakeholders.
“But certainly, it has not been solved there. They have gone to court many times, the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice) has ruled on this matter and my understanding is that there are members of the Electoral Commission who are refusing to attend meetings and the Chief Elections Officer is refusing to follow the law and the court order.
“Our hope and prayer is that everyone in Guyana will do what is correct, what is right and to bring to an end, the announcement of the long-awaited results,” said Skerrit.
Caretaker President David Granger
While noting that Guyana’s “situation is untenable”, PM Skerrit said: “I do not want to get involved in any country’s domestic issues, but just to say that it is important that this election comes to an end and the Guyanese people can go about their business knowing who their legitimate government is and that the efforts to contain COVID and to grow the economy can continue with the Government of the people’s choosing.”
Skerrit has joined other regional leaders, including former Caricom Chair, Prime Minister Mottley and current Caricom Chair, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves in calling for the will of the people to be respected.
Guyanese went to the polls on March 2 to exercise their franchise. The vote count shows that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the elections with 233,336 votes, but the incumbent Administration, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition has been refusing to concede defeat.
The coalition has resorted to a variety of tactics aimed at altering the results of the elections and delaying the legitimate conclusion of the electoral process.
Its latest tactic was unveiled on Tuesday when a coalition supporter moved to the High Court in yet another move to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from proceeding with the declaration of the elections results based on the Caricom-certified recount process.
Just before this court case, another APNU/AFC supporter had approached the Appeal Court to block GECOM from declaring the results based on the recount results. That case made it all the way to the CCJ, which had made it clear that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) has to follow the instructions given to him by the GECOM Chairperson.
GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh has, on several occasions, instructed the CEO Keith Lowenfield to prepare the final elections report based on the recount results, in order to make a declaration.
But Lowenfield has repeatedly refused to do so.
The international community has made it clear that the only democratic solution to the country’s ongoing political impasse is for the declaration to be made based on the recount results.
