EVEN as final preparations are still ongoing, the CARICOM Election Observer Mission (CEOM) said on Friday that it has been given all assurance that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will be ready to facilitate new General and Regional Elections on Monday.

Chief of Mission of the 17-member CEOM team Cynthia Combie Martyr gave this assurance on Friday at a press briefing held at the CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters. Martyr said that
despite Guyana’s unique challenges, her current observation is that the general preparation process thus far is not largely different from her observation of other electoral processes in the Caribbean. “One can never expect that any electoral body would ever be 100 per cent ready; there will always be a little glitch here and there, and there will always be issues that arrive that you did not expect,” Martyr said, adding: “As it relates to GECOM, I can appreciate the issues that have occurred, and I can sympathise and empathise with them to a certain extent, because what has happened, I believe, was due, in part, to the CCJ ruling, and perhaps that could have influenced the ability to be prepared in the fullest extent.

“They [stakeholders involved] are relatively satisfied that GECOM has done its best to prepare for that General Election, and I am satisfied that, as a CARICOM member, Guyana, through GECOM, will be ready for that General Election on Monday.”

Already, Martyr has met with the Commission; representatives of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC); the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C); The Citizenship Initiative (TCI); the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP); The New Movement (TNM); the United Republican Party (URP); Change Guyana (CG); A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP).

The Chief of Mission also met with Commissioner of Police Leslie James; representatives of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC); the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU); the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU); the Private Sector Commission (PSC); the Guyana National Youth Council; the Society Against Sexual Orientation and Discrimination (SASOD) and members of other Elections Observer Missions.

SECURITY ASSURANCE

Coming out of these meetings, the Chief of Mission was also assured by Commissioner James that security will not be an issue on Elections Day. “The Commissioner convinced us that the Force was prepared to deal with any incidence of violence or any security issues that may occur during the elections,” she said.

“He also indicated that they would not be wearing arms — no guns — because he felt that that was not necessary. In addition, he indicated that it is unlikely that there would be any violence. He felt that the whole process would be free of violence [but] he said in any event he would be prepared to address those instances.”

From some parties, she noted the concern of a lack of existing guidelines to deal with the seat allocation for parties involved in a joinder of list. However, Martyr said that the matter is being dealt with at the level of the Commission. “I have spoken to the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield and he has assured me that he will endeavor to speak to the Commission and to get some sort of solution to dealing with the aspect of which we have the concerns…the leader of the parties wanted that information prior to Election Day,” she said. It is also the CEOM’s intention to meet with the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and stakeholders of religious bodies if time permits. To obtain a general overview of the political atmosphere and the level of preparedness for the electoral process, the Mission will also attend final political rallies and continue to observe the pre-election period.

On E-Day, they will observe the days activities which includes the voting procedure and count. At the end of the day, the CEOM will produce a preliminary statement outlining its initial assessment of the electoral process. Thereafter, a Final Report will be submitted to CARICOM Secretary- General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque. “On behalf of the Mission I wish to express our gratitude for the warm welcome extended to the Mission by the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Mission looks forward to the successful conclusion of the electorate process,” Martyr said. The CEOM experts come from some 11 countries and were invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through LaRocque.
Martyr arrived on February 24, 2020 while the remaining members arrived on Thursday and Friday. Discussions are still ongoing regarding the deployment of the team and which Regions and polling places they will either visit or be stationed at.