TEN local groups have indicated an interest in acting as election observers, in addition to two out of five international groups that have been invited to do so. Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr Steve Surujbally, in an invited comment yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle that the local observers include representatives from the United States Embassy, the British and Canadian High Commissions, the European Union (EU) country office, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Blue Caps, the International Republic Institute (IRI), the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB).

The latter received the endorsement of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) on Wednesday, when it announced that it will be working with the EAB in the monitoring of the May 11 General and Regional Elections.
A statement from the CIOG said, “The organisation endorses that it is in our country’s best interest to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful, respectful, and morally correct manner. Democracy is an important aspect of freedom and must always be safeguarded. Hence, the elections ought to be free and fair, unaccompanied by any form of intimidation and violence.
“…the CIOG wishes to remind Guyanese that elections are part of our democratic process and we must, therefore, respect the rights of each other in our individual and collective capacity in our decision to elect and support the party of our choice.”
Additionally, relative to an international presence in Guyana, the Carter Centre and the Organisation of American States (OAS) are the two groups that have confirmed that they will be in Guyana ahead of the May 11 polls.
In addition to these groups, the Central Government extended invitations to the Commonwealth, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
Dr Surujbally told the Guyana Chronicle that these groups are still to confirm their presence as election observers.
The GECOM Chairman maintained that all observers, local and foreign, will be required to sign onto certain protocols before they are accredited as observers.
The Guyana Chronicle was able to get an exclusive look at these protocols, which outline the roles and functions of the observer groups.
Relative to foreign observers, the missions, according to the protocol, will be expected to adhere to more than 35 guidelines. In addition to the guidelines, the rights and privileges of accredited election observer groups were also outlined in the protocol.
Similar rights and guidelines apply to local observer groups, which were detailed in a separate document and seen by this newspaper.
Under the Election Law (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2000, Section 20 states that: “The Commission may approve of local organisations observing the democratic process involved in any election provided such organisations fulfill such conditions as may be stipulated by the Commission.”
Both protocols, for foreign and local observer groups, state clearly that if GECOM considers that an observer group “wilfully, without restraint, overtly and/or with malice aforethought breached the modus operandi and protocols” outlined by the Commission, GECOM has the authority to and may rescind/withdraw its accreditation from the individual errant observer or even from the entire observer mission.

By Vanessa Narine