Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, says that she welcomes and commends the regional leadership of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), to deploy a high-level mission to Guyana, to supervise a recount of the ballots cast in all ten regions of the recently concluded elections.
In her previous statement on March 13, Scotland had expressed deep concern; saying that the tabulation of Region 4 results after the 2 March General and Regional Elections was not transparently conducted in accordance with the ruling of the Acting Chief Justice. The Commonwealth Observer Group to Guyana informed her that the subsequent tabulation in Region 4 was not conducted in accordance with the judgement of the Acting Chief Justice and is therefore not credible.
In that regard, the SG said that President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s commitment to this new initiative and agreement on the way forward, deserves to be lauded.
“I also note and welcome the public commitment from Justice Claudette Singh, Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), that she would facilitate the recounting of ballots; and her assurance that GECOM will cooperate fully with the CARICOM Initiative. I urge all relevant stakeholders and public officials to do the same, and in accordance with the unambiguous judgement of the Acting Chief Justice,” she said.
She added that the entire Commonwealth family looks to the leaders and the people of Guyana to live up to the lofty aspirations set out in its constitution, electoral laws, and Commonwealth Charter.
