CHAIRMAN of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, in his first message on the Guyana elections situation, since his assumption as Chair, has called on political stakeholders to respect the recent ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and to conclude the elections “without further delay”.

In a release, on Thursday evening, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines said that the Court’s ruling should lead to a declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the results of the elections as awaited since March 2, 2020.

“The Caribbean Community welcomes the progress towards the finalisation of the electoral process in Guyana following the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice on Wednesday 8 July. The Community calls on all stakeholders to respect the ruling of the CCJ, Guyana’s final Court of Appeal,” he said.

He pointed to the summary judgement of the CCJ which he said aptly stated: “It has been four months since the elections were held and the country has been without a Parliament for well over a year. No one in Guyana would regard this to be a satisfactory state of affairs. We express the fervent hope that there would quickly be a peaceable restoration of normalcy.”

Furthermore, Gonsalves, who was amongst the five CARICOM Prime Ministers who visited Guyana back in March 2 to help broker a peaceful end to the elections, commended Guyanese for their patience and urged the country’s leaders to respect the rule of law. He said: “Accordingly, the Court’s ruling should lead to a declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the results of the General and Regional Elections held on 2 March 2020, without further delay. CARICOM commends the continuing patience and calm of the people of Guyana and calls on all stakeholders to respect the rule of law.”