CARICOM “independent high level team” to supervise recount of ballots in Guyana
Published:Saturday | March 14, 2020 | 3:38 PM
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - An “independent high-level” team, headed by former Dominica attorney general and foreign affairs minister, Francine Baron, will supervise the recounting of the ballots in Region 4, the chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced Saturday.
She said that the request for the independent CARICOM team had come from President David Granger and had been supported by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo following the release late on Friday night of the preliminary results by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the March 2 regional and general elections.
“Many of you are aware that I led a high-level team of Caribbean Prime Ministers to Georgetown earlier this week to meet with all of the affected parties from the recent General Election of March 2, 2020.CARICOM has remained engaged over the last few days.”
She said after “discussions this morning, President Granger made a request for the Caribbean Community to field an independent high-level team to supervise the re-counting of the ballots in Region 4 in accordance with the ruling of the Chief Justice of 11 March, 2020. This has been agreed to by Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
“We believe that this is a giant step in being able to determine the will of the Guyanese people in the Election of March 2, 2020. It will also allow the electoral process to regain the confidence of all locally, regionally and internationally,” Mottley said.
Mottley said that they will also be accompanied by the two Chief Elections Officers from Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
“Both President Granger and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Jagdeo have agreed that the recount should commence once the CARICOM team is on the ground. I can confirm that all efforts are being made to have the team in Guyana as soon as possible. A further announcement will be made as to the exact details once the team is on the ground.”
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