The Carter Center believes a judgement handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice – Guyana’s final legal recourse – can possibly bring an end to the current electoral crisis facing the nation.
This is according to the Director of the Center’s Democracy Programme, Dr David Carroll who, during an interview with INews, explained that the existing political climate in the country is not healthy, and an immediate resolution is needed.
Just when the country thought the process would come to an end with the declaration of the elections results last week, the APNU/AFC Coalition approached the Court of Appeal seeking a number of reliefs. As a consequence, the work of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was put on hold.
And following the Appeal Court’s ruling on Monday, the PPP/C approached the CCJ to challenge that judgment, claiming that it “plunged the law in total confusion”.
With a full hearing of that party’s appeal set for July 1, Dr Carroll is hoping that the subsequent ruling would ultimately bring an end to this unprecedented prolonged electoral process.
“The ability to turn to legal options to try to address the disputes was anticipated; and ultimately, a ruling by the CCJ, we can hope as it did in the No-Confidence Motion (case) and previous important cases, can bring a final resolution to the question,” the Carter Center rep stated.
“And if it takes another short amount of time, what’s important is that there is a clear resolution that has a credible basis to it,” he added.
According to Dr Carroll, the current situation is not healthy, more particularly for a government that fell to a No-Confidence Motion more than one year ago to remain in executive office.
“The elections process on a whole has not been healthy for Guyana,” he expressed.
Asked specifically about the fact that the APNU/AFC Coalition has grasped onto power since December 2018, Dr Carroll said, “I don’t think any of this has been healthy for Guyana. I really don’t.”
The Carter Center rep noted that “the best that can happen now is that there is as quick as possible resolution that is founded on credible results and credible legal basis, and we can move toward the next phase.”
The next phase, he reasoned, is to address the flaws of the electoral and entire governance system in the country.
