Dear Editor
A NEW president was sworn in to office in Guyana, five months to the day after the election. After numerous attempts to affect the final count to an Election Day which was recognised by every credible international and national observer group to have been a success.

One person, one woman, held fast to her oath of office to deliver the final legal verdict of the election: the Chair of GECOM, retired justice Claudette Singh. She held fast against every attempt to derail the final count, the one whereby what came out of the ballot boxes was a true reflection of what went in, the free expression of the Guyanese people’s democratic will.
I bore witness first hand to her determination to do the right thing at every step of the electoral process, to her indomitable will to overcome every obstacle, and to achieve the true results of the election by meeting all the legal challenges thrown her way. I cannot recall, in all my international experience, such a display of courage, of true grit, over such a prolonged period of time after election day, after so much pressure. And yet such is the case here: Claudette Singh has acted well beyond the call of duty and deserves to be recognised as the hero she is by all democrats around the world, especially those of Guyana.

Regards
Jean-Pierre Kingsley
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada 1990-2007