by Linda Straker
- Dr Keith Mitchell will part of team accompanying Caricom Chairman, Mia Mottley to Guyana
- Guyana held elections on 2 March to vote for a 65-member National Assembly
- Guyana visit to resolve the current crisis from last Tuesday’s General Election
Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, said that he will part of the team of regional prime ministers who will be accompanying Caricom Chairman, Mia Mottley on a visit to Guyana, the purpose of which is to resolve the current crisis from last Tuesday’s General Election.
“I am one of those asked to lead a delegation of leaders to Guyana tomorrow to attempt to bring some semblance of peace and order to Guyana and this particular time,” he said. He reminded reporters in 1997 he was part of a similar undertaking while he was chairman of Caricom. “We had a similar situation in Guyana where the result of the election was accepted by the opposition and there was upheaval in the country at the time, and I had to go in there and try to bring peace, and we were able to resolve the issue as Caricom.”
The other prime ministers are Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica. “Three of us, considered three of the oldest serving leaders in the region, so we have been asked to join the Chairman of Caricom on that mission to Guyana,” PM Mitchell said.
Guyana held elections on 2 March to vote for a 65-member National Assembly. Before the official results were out, both of the major parties claimed a victory, but the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) announced results in which the incumbent president, David Granger, received a narrow win. The ongoing controversy surrounds a declaration of “unverified” results for the elections in Region 4.
A report on the Stabroek News website said that nationally, according to the figures provided, the total votes the incumbent has managed to secure was 237,017 of the 472,834 votes cast on Monday. This is 7,638 more than the 229,379 secured by the PPP/C.
The process used by GECOM to arrive at the Region 4 result has been questioned by the opposition PPP/C and the other political parties that contested the elections, along with the international observers, and they have all called for the numbers to undergo the verification of the tabulation process as stipulated under the electoral law.
The PPP/C has taken the matter to the High Court and Chief Justice Roxane George is set to hear argument today about whether the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo has complied with Section 84 of Chapter 103, The Representation of the People Act.
