Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, has reiterated the call for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to declare the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections using the figures from the National Recount.
His statement came following the unanimous decision by Guyana’s Court of Appeal on Thursday to dismiss the appeal filed by APNU/AFC supporter, Misegna Jones, who had challenged Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George’s July 20, ruling that figures emanating from the recount exercise must be used as the basis for a final declaration of the March 2 elections results.
As such, SG Almagro said in a tweet Thursday night that, “The right of appeal is a privilege that should not be abused -especially in deferring the will of the people. #Guyana has spoken. GECOM must declare results based on the recount.”
The OAS, which had fielded an Electoral Observation Mission to monitor the March 2 polls as well as the 33-day recount process, has been vocal about Guyana’s current electoral process, calling for the will of the people to be respected.
In fact, the OAS Permanent Council met last Tuesday to discuss the situation in Guyana, and Almagro, making it pellucid that democracy must be upheld in Guyana, had urged that the Judiciary stop being the refuge of those who want to do nothing more than delay the declaration of results of the General and Regional Elections.
“The current situation serves no purpose in Guyana. We call to stop using the Judiciary branch to avoid bringing a solution to the country. It’s time to make decisions and protect democracy and the will of the people expressed in the elections,” Almagro had said.
The 33-day recount exercise show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the elections with 233,336 votes while the caretaker APNU/AFC Coalition obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of 15,416 votes.
