DISTANCING the United States (US) from allegations of “foreign interference” in Guyana elections, US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch said on Thursday that the US does not hold preference for which political party should legitimately win the elections as it stands ready to continue its bilateral relations none the less.
“I will close by sharing an apparently well-kept secret: The United States Government is entirely non-partisan about which party wins Guyana’s 2020 elections. The major parties – and the smaller ones too – all offer the opportunity to continue an excellent bilateral relationship based on a shared commitment to supporting improved governance, prosperity, and security in Guyana. Let’s get on with that important work,” Lynch said in a release to the media.
She noted that during the politically-charged election cycle, US diplomats have been “quite properly” very vocal about the local situation and this has led to a common criticism of diplomatic statements. The Ambassador said, however, that she and other US diplomats must speak as such is in keeping with foreign policy, the Constitution of the United States and the Guyanese Constitution. The US and other Western countries have been accused of meddling in the elections. Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission have complained that at one of their meetings, the Canadian High Commissioner barged in without invitation. Diplomats have also been seen heavily involved in GECOM tabulation exercise and have made a number of statements regarding the elections outcome and how the tabulation of the votes should be done.
But Lynch in a statement said: “In foreign policy, the difference between meddling and practising good diplomacy is that the latter involves sticking to bedrock principles of human rights, good governance, and transparency and, whenever possible, underscoring the values that bind the country you represent to the country in which you serve. Quite properly, there has been a lot of attention by U.S. diplomats to Guyana’s 2020 election day and events after it. In this context, silence breaks an oath I took. In serious and soaring language, I swore to ‘bear true faith and allegiance’ to the Constitution of the United States, and it is in that document where these bedrock principles stand solidly for me. Indeed, 11 of the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution address voting rights, electoral issues, or matters of succession by our representatives.”
She added that the international extension of these principles is present in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and Article 3 of the Charter of The Organization of American States which speak to the “exercise of representative democracy.”
The US Ambassador noted Guyana’s own words on the Venezuela crisis in which it stated that the country’s electoral proves “lacked legitimacy” as it had neither the participation of all political actors, presence of independent international observers or the compliance with international standards for a free, fair and transparent election. “Such statements are not foreign interference, they amount to good diplomacy by members of the hemisphere’s democratic club. My hope and expectation is that Guyana maintains its good standing as a member of this club by counting all the election day votes through a transparent and credible process. Guyana is certainly not Venezuela; let’s keep it that way,” Lynch stated.
She added: “Some have criticised the U.S. Government for speaking out, suggesting we would do better to get our own house in order. To that I respond, democracy, or rule by the people, is almost always noisy. The democratic cacophony is home to our competing values and political identities in the public square. At its heart, democracy is the expression of our freedom to be represented. As such, each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value.”
