GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Two weeks after Guyanese went to the polls to elect a new government, preparations are now in place for the start of a national recount as agreed to by President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo with the Caribbean Community CARICOM.
But the Guyana Elections Commission GECOM, which made the announcement in the statement, said while it has considered the request in principle and has approved, a signed agreement between CARICOM leaders is essential for the process to be operationalised.
The recount exercise will be conducted at the Arthur Chung’s Conference Centre.
A site visit was done on Monday morning, by GECOM, the CARICOM delegation that will supervise the recount of ballots from the March 2 regional and general elections, the Guyana Police Force and representatives from the Ministry of Tourism.
“The Guyana Elections Commission is resolute in ensuring that the process is conducted to the satisfaction of all stakeholders so that the electoral process can be concluded within the shortest possible time. An update would be provided on the commencement time for the activity,” GECOM said in its statement on Monday.
A decision that CARICOM would oversee the recount followed a high-level team of Caribbean leaders, led by CARICOM Chairman and Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley, meeting with Granger and Jagdeo in Georgetown last week.
The Independent High-Level CARICOM Team is chaired by Francine Baron, former Attorney General and Foreign Minister and comprises Anthony Boatswain, former Minister of Finance of Grenada and Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer in Department of Government of The University of the West Indies (The UWI).
They are accompanied by two electoral officials from Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. ~ Caribbean360 ~
