President David Granger has expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the meetings with the five Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of State, who travelled to Guyana on Wednesday to mediate between the Government and the Opposition regarding the current electoral stalemate.
“The Prime Ministers of Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines [and Grenada] came to Guyana and they were honest. They were committed to working with Guyana and the stakeholders in Georgetown and the rest of the country to craft a path forward out of the present situation,” President Granger said.
In a statement, the President said the five regional heads “were non-intrusive”.
The team of Prime Ministers comprised Prime Minister the Right Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley; Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves; Dr. the Honourable Keith Mitchell and the Right Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit.
According to President David Granger, the team engaged parties of the coalition, leader of the opposition, observer missions and other stakeholders.
“They were fully engaged and they worked very hard and aimed at getting a solution to the present situation. I would say it was successful. I was very happy with the outcome and in general terms, we met with former President Bharrat Jagdeo and we agreed that on Thursday, the two sides, [the] Government side and the Opposition side of the Elections Commission would meet and work out some way of implementing fully, the ruling of Chief Justice Roxane George,” the Head of State said.
It was agreed by the two sides – President Granger and Opposition Leader Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo – that the process should remain in the hands of the Elections Commission which should meet and decide how it would implement the Chief Justice’s ruling.
Further, President Granger iterated that there be no interference by external agents in the role of the Elections Commission. GECOM must be allowed to function without interference.
“The way forward is to ensure the process remains where it belongs, with the Elections Commission and I was happy that the Leader of the Opposition agreed to that. On my side, I agreed to that and we should await the outcome of that process… Let us not resort to violent action, to protests and demonstrations.”
The Head of State expressed confidence that if the Elections Commission is allowed to function, the elections process will be concluded.
“I am very confident that if the Commission is allowed to do its work, we would come to an end of this process which started on the 2nd March. It is just going on too long. We need to bring an end to it. The Chief Justice has ruled, the Elections Commission has a role to play, the Constitution is clear and I have given the CARICOM Heads of Government a commitment that I will abide by the Constitution. I’ll abide by the declaration of the Elections Commission and I’ll abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court of Guyana,” the President said.
