OAS Council To Meet On Guyana Crisis Next Week

News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C. Fri. July 17, 2020: The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) is to set meet and consider the state of the electoral process in Guyana early next week.

The virtual special meeting is set for Tuesday, July 21 at 14:30 EDT and is being held at the request of the Secretary General, Luis Almagro. It comes on the heels of the US’ implementation of visa restrictions “on individuals who have been responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Guyana.”

Last week, the OAs said that the Chief Elections Officer of Guyana submission of a final report which includes data compiled prior to the national recount; data which had already been deemed to be questionable cannot be justified.

“The Chief Elections Officer is acting in bad faith and contrary to the interest of democracy in Guyana,” the statement added.

On July 10th, the hemispheric body added: “A credible conclusion of the 2020 elections is essential if Guyana is to remain a democracy. The OAS will continue to support the efforts of the people of Guyana towards this end.”

In May, Head of the OAS observer mission to Guyana’s March 2nd elections, Bruce Golding, reported that the ongoing recount process has exposed glaring instances where the figures presented by Returning Officer of Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, were clearly fiddled.

Golding, who was at the time presenting a report on the preliminary findings of the mission to the Organisation of American States (OAS) Permanent Council, departed from his prepared statement to give a few instances accompanied with ballot box numbers to support his statement concerning the altering of the elections results.

“And permit me here to pause to make a comment. I have never seen a more transparent effort to alter the results of an election,” Golding said as he put aside his prepared statement, which was heard by a number of ambassadors to the OAS, including Guyana’s Riyad Insanally.

The OAS meeting will be broadcast live – with interpretation in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese- on the OAS Website and the OAS Facebook page and the OAS YouTube page.

The OAS is among international bodies that have observed the elections on March 2, 2020 and the recount which shows that the country’s main opposition Peoples Progressive Party/Civic, (PPP/C,) won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the incumbent A Partnership For National Unity/Alliance For Change, (APNU/AFC) garnered 217,920 votes. The results were certified by the country’s Guyana Election Commission in its recount, overseen by international and regional observers, including CARICOM scrutineers. But the incumbent party has so far refused to allow the elections commission to officially declare the results.

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