Western diplomats representing the US, UK, Canada and the European Union yesterday met with de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Karen Cummings on the elections recount amid repeated warnings to George-town that the process has to be transparent and lead swiftly to the declaration of results.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Cummings met with Canadian High Commissioner, Lilian Chatterjee; High Commissioner of the United Kingdom, Greg Quinn; Ambassador of the United States, Sarah-Ann Lynch and Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary of the European Union (EU), Fernando Ponz Cantó, to discuss developments related to the recount of ballots following the March 2, 2020 general elections.
“Dr. Cummings conveyed that the Government of Guyana valued their participation, which, as international observers, could provide an effective means to verify the genuineness and transparency of the electoral process”, the statement said.
Cummings further noted that, “Undoubtedly, we are all pleased that this process is now on its way and will expeditiously and in a transparent manner produce credible and final results of our elections”.
The Western diplomats have repeatedly warned that the elections process has to be credibly conducted and concluded. Their governments have also gone as far as warning that any illegally sworn in administration would lack legitimacy and that sanctions were on the table.
The four envoys had walked out of the District Four office over the manner in which the controversial tabulation process had been handled. They have since the March 2nd elections issued a number of warnings over what could result from an illegally installed government. More recently, the missions have pressed the government to enable the return of the Carter Center to continue its elections observation role during the recount. The Center had said that it was still to receive permission from the Guyana Government to travel. One of its observers was due to travel to Guyana on Monday but was unable to so as permission was not granted by the Guyana Government.
In March, Cummings attracted major criticism after she was heard threatening to withdraw the accreditation of observers to the elections. The Western diplomats were present when this occurred.
