The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will be receiving help from the European Union (EU), which will be fielding an observer team for the General and Regional Elections scheduled for March 2, 2020.
This was revealed by Government-nominated Commissioner Charles Corbin following a meeting at the secretariat on Tuesday.
He said discussions are also being held with Canada and the United States of America.
“The EU team visited. They have engaged with the Government. And they have indicated they’re prepared to mount an observer mission. And basically they have been engaging with other stakeholders in Guyana. And they engaged with the Commission (Tuesday) to explain the scope of their operations and methods”.
“The Commission, on its part, welcomed their involvement and indicated that we would support their involvement. The Commission is open to receiving any assistance that corresponds with the need that they have”.
The Commissioner further noted that while these countries have extended an offer to help, discussions are needed to narrow down what form this assistance will take. However, he noted that some interventions have already been made.
“Most of the major countries— Canada, US, EU— that have engaged with the Commission, have made their services available to provide any support that they need. We’ve already had interventions through diplomatic channels to facilitate some of the work we’re doing to aid our operations and that will continue,” he said.
Already, GECOM Secretariat will be benefiting from the technical expertise of retired Chief Electoral Officer of Canada’s elections body, Jean-Pierre Kingsley.
His appointment is being funded by the Canadian Government.
