Opposition welcomes EU observer mission to Guyana

The Office of the Leader of the Opposition yesterday welcomed the presence of the European Union’s (EU) 2020 election observer mission (EOM) follow-up team to Guyana “to assess whether progress has been made on electoral reforms in line with the recommendations of the EOM’s Final Report on the 2020 Guyana elections.”

According to a statement, the Opposition Leader welcomes “this EU initiative and stands ready to meet with the follow-up team to advance the agenda on electoral reforms.”

It added that electoral reforms in Guyana “have become increasingly necessary as GECOM continues to shirk its constitutional responsibility to deliver credible elections and as the public’s confidence in elections continues to erode.”

Preparations for the 2023 LGE have shown that the electoral process was still prone to political manipulation, corruption, and fraud, the statement said. “They have further exposed an elections commission that has been politically hijacked, is poorly chaired, is administratively unfit, and is unaccountable to the people,” it added.

The statement said the Opposition had reviewed the 26 recommendations made in the final report of the 2020 EOM to Guyana and fully endorse their objectives “and believe if implemented in good faith they can greatly improve elections in Guyana.”

Some of the recommendations include overhauling the composition and functioning of the elections commission through a national consultative process, the need for a thorough update of the decade-old register well ahead of the next election cycle, the need for clear written procedures for the transmission and tabulation of election results, notably to ensure consistency of the process in all regions, and adequate traceability of handed over electoral documents.

Further recommendations include the mandatory publication of all GECOM decisions, regulatory instruments, and instructions, the obligation for the commission to regularly meet with stakeholders and the media to explain and account for all major decisions, prohibiting the use of state resources for political campaigning, establishing a comprehensive election dispute resolution system to ensure effective and timely remedies throughout all stages of the electoral process.

Meanwhile, the Opposition said that in expected meetings with the EU follow-up mission, the case would be made for a clean voters’ list and the use of biometrics for voting. The statement added, “We remain skeptical that the current photo identification and verification process can reduce the risk of fraud inherent in a bloated voters’ list. We also intend to demonstrate where the recent amendments to ROPA [Representation of the People Act] are cosmetic and ineffectual.”