The Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) has joined other elections observers, regional and international blocs in calling for the verification of the election results for District four.
The TIGI, which fielded an observer team at the March 2 General and Regional Elections, noted that reports to date and their own observations indicate that the 2020 elections were overall free and fair at the level of voting. This, however, the TIGI contends, has been derailed by tabulation of the results in Region 4 which has the largest population of the ten regions with the potential to determine the outcome of the national election.
The group said that in the absence of a credible process for determining the results, the legitimacy of any leadership installed is questionable.
“The GECOM has a duty and owes it to the people of Guyana to verify the results of the elections before announcing a winner. All this must precede the swearing-in of a president. Should a president be sworn-in prior to verification of the results, the legitimacy of that president and his/her regime will remain questionable and GECOM would have shredded its credibility and that of its officers. We also believe that no leader worthy of the presidency and of the responsibility to lead the development of our society would countenance such a cloud over his/her leadership. Even when systems fail, leadership cannot be allowed to fail,” the group said in a release earlier today.
The TIGI statement comes more than one week after the controversy erupted at GECOM over the validity of the results. TIGI, too, believes that the results lack credibility, noting that the circumstances surrounding the declaration has created an “appearance of collusion between GECOM and the incumbent, APNU-AFC”.
The transparency group said that all Guyanese deserve and should demand nothing less than transparent verification of the results of the 2020 elections and all political parties, including those that might appear to have benefited from the opacity, should support only a transparent process.
“This responsibility goes beyond what is perhaps merely legal or perceived to be so and to delivering elections of the highest standard for all Guyanese. The longer a credible and correct procedure is delayed, the greater the opportunity will be given to possible compromising of the ballot boxes at GECOM, that are no longer within sight of local and international observers,” TIGI wrote.
The agency said that it will address elections in Guyana and the 2020 elections in greater detail at a later date.
