UN Resident Rep in Guyana concerned over protracted electoral process

United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guyana, Mikiko Tanaka has expressed concerns over the fact that Guyana is yet to figure out an end to its elections held more than four months ago at a time when the region is facing its worst recession in the last 10 years.

In a tweet on Sunday morning, Tanaka said “As Latin American and the Caribbean face the worst recession in a century, #Guyana is still figuring out how to conclude the 2 March elections. @UNGuyana”.
Her statement came on the heels of UN Secretary General, António Guterres saying that the coronavirus pandemic will trigger the worst recession in a century in Latin America and the Caribbean, and push the number of people living in poverty up by 45 million.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the region of the Americas has over 6.5 million coronavirus cases with more than 283,000 deaths. Currently, Guyana has just over 290 cases with its COVID-19 death toll now at 17.

Only last month, the UN Resident Coordinator bemoaned the fact that essential service providers are under more pressure as COVID-19 cases in the country continue to surge.
She tweeted on June 23, “A credible end to the elections is urgent for the elected government and parliament to fully attend to their wellbeing and resource needs to serve the people.”
Meanwhile, last Friday, the UN joined calls for the final declaration of Guyana’s elections results to bring an end to the current political impasse.
That statement was made by Stéphane Dujarric, who serves as the Spokesman for the UN Secretary General.
According to Dujarric, Secretary General António Guterres took note of the July 8 ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as a final instance.
“He stresses the importance of announcing final official results of the 2 March General and Regional Elections to the Guyanese people as soon as possible to end an impasse that has lasted more than four months,” the SG Spokesman stated.
Dujarric went on to say that the Secretary General also calls on all political leaders and their supporters to recognise and accept the final official results and refrain from any act or statement that may fuel tensions or incite violence in Guyana.
Last week, the CCJ ruled that Guyana’s Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to hear the matter filed by APNU/AFC supporter, Eslyn David.
As such, the CCJ invalidated the Appeal Court’s decision that “more votes cast” in the Recount Order means “more validate votes cast” as well as the fraudulent report submitted by embattled Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, who had disenfranchised over 115,000 voters.
The Trinidad-based regional court in its ruling, which was delivered by President Justice Adrian Saunders, further stated: “It is for GECOM to ensure that the CEO submits a report in accordance with his directives of 16th of June in order to proceed along the path directed by the laws of Guyana.”
This refers to the instructions by GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, who had directed Lowenfield in a letter dated June 16 last month to submit his final elections report using the figures from the National Recount.
The 33-day exercise confirmed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 elections with 233,336 votes while the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of 15,416 votes.
Since Wednesday’s CCJ ruling, the GECOM Chair, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, had to instruct the CEO twice to submit his report based on the recount figures. While Lowenfield did present his elections report on Saturday, it contained fraudulent figures to give the coalition a win.
However, the seven-member Elections Commission could not meet on Saturday to discuss the report because there was no quorum. The meeting has since been rescheduled for today to determine the way forward.