The Electoral Observation Mission for the Organization of American States (OAS) has taken the decision to leave Guyana due to the failure of the Returning Officer, Mr. Clairmont Mingo, to ensure the Region Four results are ascertained in a fair and transparent manner.
In a statement released moments ago, the OAS reminded that Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George handed down her ruling on March 11 which required the Returning Officer or Deputy Returning Officer to determine the best method of tabulating the Statements of Poll and included the expectation “that the Returning Officer would act reasonably in ensuring a process that allows persons to observe what is being tabulated and how.”
The Observer Mission stressed that this has not occurred. Instead, and without any plausible explanation, the Mission said that the Returning Officer continued to ascertain the votes cast for each party list without affording the duly authorized candidates and counting agents an opportunity to see the Statements of Poll, in order to compare them with the copies in their possession. Such a process, it said, could have been easily facilitated using the same technology which allows the tabulation to be displayed.
The Mission said that the Returning Officer’s defiance of the Chief Justice’s orders and expectations, and his refusal to allow the Statements of Poll to be exhibited, gives credence to the allegations that the numbers being tabulated do not correspond with the numbers appearing on the Statements of Poll prepared following the March 2 elections.
The Mission further stated that it has taken note of the fact that images of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic, on its website, which it claims were given to its polling agents after the ballots were counted at each polling station on the night of the elections, produce a result that is vastly different from that being declared by the Returning Officer and would have a decisive effect on the outcome of the national election.
The OAS Team was also keen to highlight that to date, neither the Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield nor APNU has challenged the authenticity of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic by producing the copies in their possession. Considering this, the team said that the implications are deeply troubling and make it all the more necessary for the Returning Officer to display the Statements of Poll on which he is relying.
While the foregoing circumstances remain worrying to the OAS Election Observer Mission, it was pleased to report that the March 2 poll was, in almost all respects, well executed. Further, it said that the subsequent tabulation of the Statements of Poll in the other nine regions was carried out in compliance with the law and no dispute has arisen in relation to the declaration of results.
“However, the process employed by the Returning Officer for Region Four is not transparent and, based on the numbers that have emanated since the process was first disrupted, is unlikely to produce a result that is credible and is able to command public confidence. The legitimacy of any government that is installed in these circumstances will be open to question. This would be a terrible blow to the country’s democracy. The people of Guyana do not deserve this,” the OAS Mission stated.
Given the circumstances cited above, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission said that it regrets to declare its decision to withdraw from Guyana. The Guyana Standard understands that the Chief of Mission, former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding will soon prepare a report for submission to the Secretary General which will speak to the issues outlined.