The Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Permanent Representative of Guyana to the Organisation, Bayney Karran, today signed an agreement by which the institution will send an Electoral Observation Mission to the general elections of May 11.
A release from the OAS said that the ceremony took place in Panama City in the backdrop of the Seventh Summit of the Americas, to be held on April 10 and 11. The release said that the Secretary General expressed his hope that “this will be a very good moment for Guyanese democracy,” and his conviction that, “as always, the government of Guyana will give the Mission all the facilities they need to do their job well.”
Insulza recalled that this will be the fifth Electoral Observation Mission that the OAS has deployed in Guyana, and announced that the Chief of Mission will be the former Foreign Minister and Ambassador of Belize to the OAS, Lisa Shoman.
The release said that Karran highlighted “the role that the OAS plays in strengthening democracy in the Hemisphere because democracy and good governance are fundamental to the development agenda, to human rights, to security and to so many other important areas of work.”
He added that “This election that is about to take place on May 11 is going to be a very pivotal election in Guyana, and will have far reaching consequences for the governance of the country irrespective of the result”.
The release said that the OAS has observed elections in Guyana in 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2011.
