The United Nations, through its Resident Coordinator in Guyana, has pledged to the continue working with the newly elected People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government led by Dr Irfaan Ali.
UN Resident Coordinator Mikiko Tanaka, via a tweet, relayed congratulations to President Ali just hours after he was declared winner of the March 02 General and Regional Elections and took the Oath of Office.
“Congratulations to PPP/C and President Irfaan Ali, sworn in after the bold declaration by GECOM Chair Claudette Singh. @UNGuyana commits to support the new Government, Parliament and national stakeholders to build a united, prosperous & sustainable Guyana, leaving no one behind,” Tanaka noted in the tweet.
Just last week, Tanaka had renewed her call for the elections impasse to be brought to an end. She premised her calls on the fact that young people need political space to be heard and contribute to society.
In a tweet on last Tuesday, the UN Representative had said “Many young people in #Guyana are passionately engaged in #ClimateAction. They need political space to be heard and to contribute to the betterment of the environment and society. An end to the political crisis is urgent! @UNGuyana.”
Earlier in July, Tanaka had expressed concerns over the fact that Guyana was yet to figure out an end to its elections held more than four months ago at a time when the region is facing its worst recession in the last 10 years.
She had tweeted that: “as Latin American and the Caribbean face the worst recession in a century, #Guyana is still figuring out how to conclude the 2 March elections. @UNGuyana.”
Prior to that, she tweeted on June 23 that “a credible end to the elections is urgent for the elected government and parliament to fully attend to their wellbeing and resource needs to serve the people.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on July 10, stressed the importance of announcing final official results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections to the Guyanese people “as soon as possible to end an impasse that has lasted more than four months”.
The UN Secretary General had also called on political leaders and their supporters to recognise and accept the final official results and refrain from any act or statement that may fuel tensions or incite violence.
The UN was just one of many international organisations calling for the swift conclusion of the March 2 elections, with a declaration from the recount results which show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won with 233,336 votes.
The David Granger-led APNU/AFC coalition lost the elections but were refusing to concede defeat. Instead, they had mounted court challenge after court challenge in a bid to prevent the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from declaring the certified recount of the results.
