US prepared to work with next democratically-elected Govt – Ambassador

…as Carter Center deploys elections observers across Guyana

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch has said that the United States Government stands ready to work with the next democratically elected administration in Guyana.

US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch

Ambassador Lynch, in an election message to Guyanese, said that in Washington, there is great interest in free, fair and peaceful Guyanese elections on Monday.
“I encourage all registered voters to exercise their franchise in a peaceful manner and to allow others to do the same. Good luck to all the parties. After the people of Guyana have spoken, the United States stands ready to work with the next democratically-elected administration, and I encourage all parties to respect the outcome,” the Ambassador said in her short message.

Carter Center
Meanwhile, as international observers mobilise to witness the General and Regional Elections, the Carter Center on Saturday deployed its team across the country to upkeep the mandate of ensuring fair elections.

The Carter Center delegation, headed by Chairperson of the Carter Center Board of Trustees, Jason J Carter, (6th from left) and
former Prime Minister of Senegal Aminata Toure (5th from left), who is co-leading the delegation, was deployed across
Guyana ahead of the polls

The Center would have sent more than 40 observers from 15 countries to Guyana, and they were subsequently dispersed to all 10 administrative regions. Headed by Chairperson of the Carter Center Board of Trustees, Jason J Carter, former Prime Minister of Senegal Aminata Toure is co-leading the delegation – comprising of electoral experts and long-term observers.
Since January, they would have arrived in Guyana and facilitated meetings with the Guyana Elections Commission Secretariat, the Parliamentary Opposition, and Government officials. However, the Center is also slated to meet with key stakeholders to obtain perspectives on the electoral process, contesting candidates, party leaders, GECOM, civil society leaders and the security sector.
Once again, they have called for transparency throughout the entire process, especially during the tabulation of votes.
“The Carter Center notes that publicising and widely distributing procedures for both tabulation and recounts – with key safeguards in place for transparency, allowing party scrutineers and observers at all stages – will be integral to ensuring that the will of the voters is accurately and comprehensively reflected in the final results,” Carter indicated.
Meanwhile, Touré added, “It is a great honour for us to be Guyana at this historic moment. We are hopeful that the electoral process will be peaceful, inclusive, and credible, and that Guyanese come together after these elections so they can share their bright future as one nation”.
On Friday, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) went ahead to deploy short-term observers across the country. They joined the long-term observers who had been scrutinising electoral preparations and the campaign across the 10 regions since February 4.
The EU deployed its core Elections Observation Mission, which consists of nine election analysts since January 24 and will remain here until the completion of the electoral process. The EU EOM is being headed by Chief Observer Urmas Paet, a member of the European Parliament.
In total, the EU EOM will comprise on Election Day 55 observers from 25 member states and Norway.
Meanwhile, a high-level delegation from the Commonwealth Secretariat, led by former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, is also complimenting the list of entities to witness the electoral process. Among the other foreign observer missions in Guyana are the Organization of American States (OAS), Caribbean Community (Caricom), National Congress of Brazil among others.