CARICOM Ambassador urges political parties not to fear recount of votes

CARICOM through its Ambassador Noel Lynch on Wednesday urged the two major political parties in Guyana, both claiming victory in the March 02, 2020 elections, that they should have no fear of the ongoing recount exercise.

Lynch in his comment during a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) said CARICOM intends to ensure that when the recount is complete, that democracy emerges the winner.

“If each of the political parties genuinely believes it has won, then they should have no fear of the current recount, and they should all support it,” he said.

The ongoing recount is currently being scrutinized by a high level three-member CARICOM delegation.

Lynch noted that in the same way that democracy matters to the people of Guyana, it matters to the Caribbean Community of which the nation of Guyana is a valued member.

The Barbadian hasten to add that it is for this reason CARICOM regards itself as the most legitimate interlocutors in the Guyana situation.

“We have no interest in which political party wins the election. CARICOM’s interest is that, at the end of the recounting process, democracy must be the winner,” he added.

Lynch explained that CARICOM countries are held together by rules and values, including the right to elect governments freely and fairly in a democratic process.

“If democracy fails in any CARICOM country, it fails in the larger Community. If it is imperilled in any part of our Community, it is imperilled everywhere in it. As an institution, CARICOM cannot allow this to happen in any member state,” he noted following the delivery of a report by the Chief of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission, Bruce Golding.

The CARICOM Ambassador told his colleagues that the regional body was mindful that irregularities occurred not in the system by which the Guyanese electorate cast their votes on March 2, but in the presentation of the count afterwards.

To this end, he said the Guyanese people deserve a credible and transparent process to put into office a legitimate government that they elected.

CARICOM takes its scrutineering role in this recount extremely seriously and intends to see it through to a transparent and credible conclusion, he concluded.