MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Recount of votes in Guyana election questioned by OAS observer mission

“The legitimacy of any government that is installed in these circumstances will be open to question. This would be a terrible blow to the country’s democracy. The people of Guyana do not deserve this,

The Organization of American States (OAS) election observer mission on Friday said it would be pulling out of Guyana because tabulation process for Region Four is unlikely to produce overall results that are widely accepted.

“The process employed by the Returning Officer for Region 4 is not transparent and, based on the numbers that have emanated since the process was first disrupted, is unlikely to produce a result that is credible and is able to command public confidence,” the observer mission said in a statement.

Like the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union, the OAS mission cautioned about the consequences of an internationally-accepted free and fair elections. “The legitimacy of any government that is installed in these circumstances will be open to question. This would be a terrible blow to the country’s democracy. The people of Guyana do not deserve this,” the mission said.

The OAS mission questioned why A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) or the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) did not produce evidence to challenge the validity of the publicly-released Statements of Poll by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

“To date, neither the Chief Elections Officer nor APNU has challenged the authenticity of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic by producing the copies in their possession. The implications are deeply troubling and make it all the more necessary for the Returning Officer to display the Statements of Poll on which he is relying,” the OAS said.

The GECOM Chairman, Claudette Singh and Attorney-at-Law, Neil Boston earlier Thursday pledged to display the Statements of Poll for all entitled to see during the tabulation process.