Very disappointed over political crisis in Guyana – T&T PM

…situation threatens viability of Caricom Secretariat

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley visited Guyana last month with other Caribbean leaders, including Chair of Caricom, Mia Mottley, in a bid to resolve the political stalemate following the declaration of discredited results in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) in the March 2 polls. Now, more than a month after elections were held, with no credible results declared, he has described the current situation as very disappointing and worrying.

Prime Minister Rowley made these remarks during an interview with CCN TV’s Elizabeth Williams, which aired on Saturday. According to Rowley, he had been hopeful during his trip to Guyana that their presence could have helped resolve the issue.
Instead, the elections have now been dragged before the court and a month later, the country remains in limbo when it comes to the election results. He explained that he is in regular contact with Caribbean Community (Caricom) Chairperson, Mia Mottley, on the issue.

“Speaking as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and as a Caribbean person, I am very disappointed and also very concerned about the situation in Guyana. When I went on that trip with the Caricom team, I was kind of hopeful that our presence would have brought to bear on our brothers and sisters in Guyana. And out of it would have come some position that could have led to a result.”
“I’m worried that an election held a month ago is a courthouse matter. I’m getting a feeling that this is not going to end well. I hope I’m wrong, but that feeling with the elections and the court after a month, I’m not having a good feeling about it,” Rowley said during the interview.
Rowley expressed concern over the botched Caricom agreement, which would have seen Caricom supervising a recount by GECOM. But despite caretaker President David Granger seeking the agreement, one of his own party candidates – Ulita Moore – went to court and stopped it.
In light of the fact that Caricom sent a team, including the Trinidadian election chief to supervise the recount, and that team was eventually rebuffed, Rowley was at a loss to say what more Caricom could do.
“What is even more troubling to me is that on the second [visit] we thought we had some sort [of] agreement from the leadership in Guyana that they put a marker down, let’s count the ballots and we will abide by that count. The ending of an election is counting the ballots. We sent a team of scrutineers… Trinidad sent our Chief Elections Officer to be a scrutineer.”
“Not to interfere with the process, but to look at it and bring comfort to the people of Guyana that the figure that comes out of here [is credible], having been scrutinised by the Caricom team. The next thing we know, that presence of Caricom, by invitation, became accusations against us and a legal process. So, we had to get out of there.”

Caricom
According to Rowley, it is uncertain where this leaves Caricom in the process, since the organisation and its role in the process were dragged into the court drama. However, he expressed hope that good sense would prevail in Guyana and those in the relevant positions listen to advice, since “too much is at stake.”
“Having gone in there, on that second pass, and having ended up basically as a defendant in the court, I don’t know where that leaves Caricom. That’s why I have this unsettling feeling that with every passing day, I am hopeful that something happens that puts an end to this. This cannot go on, because it’s not going to end well. And no one is going to benefit from this in Guyana.”
“We spoke to all the political leaders. Eleven political parties. And we gave them the benefit of our experience and the comfort of our presence. I don’t know what else we can do. So, I’m worried. I’m concerned.”
Rowley shied away from commenting on the repercussions of caretaker President David Granger being sworn in without a recount. However, Rowley made it clear that he remains worried about Guyana serving as host of Caricom’s headquarters, in the current circumstances.
“You must remember that the headquarters of Caricom is situated in Georgetown so all of this is cause for concern so we can’t accept a situation wherein the headquarters country what is being threatened comes to pass.”
“We cannot countenance that and that is why I am hoping that we come to a speedy conclusion to this and that a decision is made which the Guyanese people can be comfortable with going forward,” Rowley also said.
All the political parties that contested against A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) and the local and foreign observers have expressed the view that what is being threatened is an illegitimate Government and President sworn in on unverified results.
After two declarations lacking credibility from Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, the agreement for a Caricom supervised recount was reached. Despite GECOM itself agreeing to do the recount, however, APNU/AFC candidate Ulita Moore went to court and secured an injunction granted by Justice Franklyn Holder against the recount that was subsequently discharged by the Full Court.
She then returned to court to appeal her discharged injunction. At present, the Appeals Court is set to rule today on an application to stop GECOM from conducting a recount. The Commission has, nevertheless, already agreed to doing a recount of all 10 regions in chronological order.