Echoing a recommendation made over previous electoral cycles, the Commonwealth elections observation mission has called for the reform of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and has also urged that any election-related dispute be expeditiously addressed through appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms.
“A key issue repeatedly raised in our interactions was the urgent need for constitutional and electoral reform to address what stakeholders view as a complex and multi-faceted polarisation of the nation. These divisions are reflected in the composition, structure and operations of GECOM itself,” Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group, former Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur, told a press conference at Cara Lodge, Georgetown, yesterday, where he presented the group’s main findings in an interim statement for its observing of the general and regional elections on Monday.
“It is essential that electoral processes be fully inclusive of different political stakeholders and minority groups,” he said.