As Guyana’s General and Regional Elections loom closer, former Prime Minister of Senegal, Aminata Touré and Chairperson of The Carter Center Board of Trustees, Jason J Carter will co-lead the Carter Center’s international election observation mission in Guyana.
“The Carter Center and my grandfather, President Carter, care deeply about democratic governance in Guyana,” Carter said. “This election is an important opportunity for all Guyanese to rise above political divisions, respect democratic principles, and move together toward a brighter future. I look forward to returning to Guyana to observe this important election,” the Chairperson of The Carter Center Board of Trustees said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Touré said that she is honoured to co-lead the mission: “We hope the election will help move Guyana forward in the spirit of inclusive governance.”
The Carter Center has had a core team and group of long-term observers in Guyana since early January. Carter and Touré will arrive in the days leading up to the election to meet with key stakeholders — including political party candidates, civil society organisations, Government officials, and other international election observer missions, before observing polling, counting, and tabulation on March 2.
Last week, the European Union (EU) announced that it will be fielding teams of observers to cover every single region in Guyana. These observers will be complemented by a team of analysts.
It was explained that there will be long-term observers deployed for six weeks countrywide. These observers will be replaced just before elections with short-term observers, who will be active during and after voting.
Other overseas-based observers expected to participate in overseeing the election include teams from the Organisation of American States (OAS), as well as the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
GECOM is also getting assistance from a number of technical advisors who were provided by other countries and international organisations. Canada, for instance, is providing GECOM with Jean-Pierre Kingsley, a Canadian elections expert.
The Commonwealth is also providing the services of its senior technical advisor, Dr Afari Gyan, who arrived in Guyana last month. It is also understood that Dr Syed Nasim Zaidi, an elections advisor from India, is also expected to join the team. In fact, this publication has been reliably informed that Zaidi has since arrived and met with the Commission.
