THE Council of Management of the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) is in the process of finalising arrangements for the commencement of its 2015 Elections Monitoring and Observation Exercise.These arrangements, the EAB said, include the setting up of administrative capacity and the equipping of the office, the location of which will be announced as soon as it is open to the public.

The EAB said it expects to receive funding for its Elections Monitoring Programme from international partners in the coming weeks.

“As soon as the EAB is in a position to fully commence operations, more details of the programme will be announced,” the agency said in a release said.

The EAB is a Guyanese, non-partisan, non-profit, non-governmental organization that was formed in June 1991 with the main objective of assisting in the establishment, maintenance and preservation of democracy, particularly in regard to the election process.

The EAB has functioned in the main as a citizen-based election monitoring organisation during both regional and national elections in Guyana since 1991.

Over the years, well respected citizens have served on the EAB’s Council of Management, including Dr Makepeace Richmond and Ms Eileen Cox (both deceased), and Messrs Nigel Hughes and Miles Fitzpatrick.

In previous elections, the EAB had received sponsorship from the Anglican Church, the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana, the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union, the Guyana Bar Association, the Guyana Central Arya Samaj, the Roman Catholic Church, the Guyana Medical Association, the Guyana Council of Churches, the Consumers Advisory Bureau, the Guyana Consumers Association, and the Private Sector Commission.

It had monitored the 1992 National and Regional Elections, the 1994 Local Government Elections, and the 1997 and 2001 National and Regional Elections. The programmes undertaken included testing of the voters’ lists, voter education (1992 and 1994), media monitoring campaign (1997), and monitoring, and fielding local observers at polling stations(1994 and 1997).

The contribution made by the EAB to the restoration of democracy in Guyana has been noted in the US Congressional Record, and has been attested to as well by the Carter Centre of Emory University; late President Dr Cheddi Jagan and Guyanese themselves.

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr. Steve Surujbally, told this newspaper that the Commission has been in touch with some of the organisations that normally field observer missions to Guyana.

He disclosed that these include the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

The GECOM Chairman added that the local organization the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has approached the Commission for accreditation.