A Caribbean Community (CARICOM) high-level delegation will travel to Guyana on Thursday April 30, 2020 to validate the country’s National Recount by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) announced late Monday night.

CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque had written the Chairman of the NCTF, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo seeking approval for a chartered plane to transport the high-level delegation in and out of Guyana. That approval was granted when the NCTF held its virtual weekly statutory meeting on Monday.

“Among the decisions taken was the approval of the request from CARICOM for officials to travel to Guyana on Thursday, April 30th for the purposes of overseeing the recount of ballots by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM),” Director of Public Information, Imran Khan said in a statement. The independent high-level CARICOM delegation is expected to validate Guyana’s National Recount of the votes cast at the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

On Monday morning, GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward explained that Ambassador LaRocque sought approval for the departure of a chartered flight from Guyana to collect the high-level officials, and for its return the very day. The CARICOM Secretary-General has also asked that a similar arrangement be put in place for the return of the officials upon the completion of the exercise.

Permission to enter and depart Guyana is needed in light of Emergency Measures instituted by the Government to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The country’s international airports – Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugene F. Correia International Airport – have been closed to regional and international travel since March 18, 2020.

PCR COVID-19 TEST
Ambassador LaRocque, in his communication with Prime Minister Nagamootoo, also indicated that the high-level officials will undergo the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 before arriving in Guyana. He noted that arrangements would be made for the officials to be tested in their respective country, however, he requested that the WHO approved PCR COVID-19 test also be administered to the team before they depart Guyana.

Last week, the NCTF granted approval for the CARICOM officials to undergo the PCR COVID-19 test as against the mandatory 14 days quarantine. Approval was granted based on the intervention of President David Granger. President Granger had insisted that “nothing should be done, or appears to be done, that could delay the start of the recount process.”

Now that an arrival date for the CARICOM officials have been announced, it is likely that the Elections Commission will announce a commencement date for the National Recount soon and gazette an order for the recount to take effect. Already an operational plan and a draft order for the National Recount to take place have been approved.

Last week during a visit to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) – the site of the National Recount – Chairperson of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh said, in light of the global pandemic, GECOM will take all necessary precautions to safeguard the wellbeing of the CARICOM high-level team that is expected to oversee the process, as well as all other individuals who would be integrally involved. The NCTF has since provided the Elections Commission with 14 guidelines to prevent the spread of the disease.

CARICOM INITIATIVE
The CARICOM high-level team is returning to Guyana having earlier withdrew from the country due to a number of legal challenges that arose.

On the instruction of the CARICOM Chairman, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley, the high-level team had arrived in Guyana on March 15 to supervise a planned national recount, which had stemmed from an agreement between President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

The team included: former Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Dominica, Francine Baron; former Minister of Finance of Grenada, Anthony Boatswain; Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government of UWI, Cynthia Barrow-Giles; Chief Electoral Officer of Barbados, Angela Taylor; and Chief Elections Officer of Trinidad and Tobago, Fern Narcis-Scope.

However, on March 17, 2020, the high-level team withdrew from the process, after it was beset by several stumbling blocks. A private citizen, Ulita Moore, secured four injunctions from the High Court to block the recount, on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

Added to that, though President Granger and the Opposition Leader had signed an Aide Memoire agreeing to the recount, CARICOM had requested a legal cover, in the form of a gazzetted order. However, Guyana’s Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Charles Fung-a-Fat, advised against it. According to him, to do so would be to supersede electoral laws, and infringe on the rights of electors.

On April 3, however, GECOM took a decision to proceed with the National Recount after the Full Court had discharged the injunctions and dismissed the Fixed Date Application for Judicial Review filed by Moore on the basis that the challenge ought to have been filed by way of an Elections Petition.

Justice Singh said the decision was taken in accordance with Article 162 (1) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana, which mandates the Commission to “take such action as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provisions of the Constitution.”

But while the Court of Appeal ruled out the possibility of CARICOM supervising the recount, the Elections Commission thought it important to have CARICOM integrally involved to validate the process.