Former Attorney-General and Foreign Affairs Minister, Francine Baron, is leading a CARICOM High-Level Team to recount election ballots in Guyana. The result of the March 2, 2020, general elections in the northeastern South American republic was inconclusive since both the ruling and opposition parties claimed victory.
With the national crises and political violence that have erupted as a result of the situation, the Guyanese government and the opposition have agreed to have the entire election ballots recounted. CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, said she personally spoke to Guyana’s President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and they both agreed to have a recount and to abide with the results of the recounting exercise.
Mottley said President Granger had requested to have an independent high-level CARICOM team to supervise the recounting as a way to end the impasse surrounding the election results. Given the extent of the political row and division in the former British colony, foreign powers such as the US, UK, EU, and Canada have threatened to sanction Guyana unless the country resolves the election disputes.
“I’ve spoken directly to both the President and Leader of the Opposition and they have both committed to abide by the results of a fair and transparent recount of each and every ballot, as supervised by the CARICOM Team,” the CARICOM Chairman PM Mia Mottley said.
Dominica’s Francine Baron will be assisted in the task by top election observers and personalities within the Caribbean region. These include former Minister of Finance of Grenada, Anthony Boatswain; Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government of UWI, Cynthia Barrow-Giles; Chief Electoral Officer of Barbados, Angela Taylor; and Chief Elections Officer of Trinidad and Tobago, Fern Narcis-Scope.
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