The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) yesterday took up the case of Guyana’s elections stalemate and called on GECOM to fulfil its constitutional mandate for a credible tabulation of votes and warned that any government sworn-in here without a transparent process would lack legitimacy.
CMAG is the body to which persistent offenders of the Commonwealth’s shared principles are referred. Its taking up of Guyana’s case at its March 31 video conference meeting would be a major embarrassment for the APNU+AFC government and a blow to plans to have President David Granger sworn in for a new term without a credible count.
Referral to CMAG is also a preliminary step to the ultimate sanction that Guyana could be faced with – expulsion from the Commonwealth, a development unthinkable for a country that has played a major role in the grouping and which was at one point headed by Guyana’s Sir Shridath Ramphal.