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Boodhoo sees lessons for Guyana in Suriname elections
Chief Elections Officer, Gocool Boodhoo, believes Guyana can draw lessons from the conduct of the people in Suriname during elections held in the neighbouring country last Tuesday.
“We can learn a lot from these people. All the fighting and the animosity you have (here in Guyana) doesn’t pay off. I enjoyed what I saw (in Suriname),” Boodhoo stated.
CARICOM Observers Michael Flood and Gocool Boodhoo at a press conference in the wake of Suriname’s general elections.
He served as Deputy Chief of the electoral observer mission sent to Suriname by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The elections to elect a new 51-seat Parliament were peaceful with no reports of violence or tension. During actual elections day, various parties set up tents outside polling stations advising voters how to cast their ballot correctly, but there were no confrontations.
“All the parties were there and there was camaraderie. There was no animosity. They were all sharing tents and having a good time,” Boodhoo observed.
“It was interesting to note that people of opposing parties were eating, laughing and sitting together, although they numbered in the hundreds in the area outside the polling area,” the observer team noted in a statement.
“There are a lot of things we can learn,” added Boodhoo, who is preparing for long-overdue Local Government elections and general elections in Guyana next year.
“I believe the rest of Caribbean states should definitely take a page from Suriname’s behaviour…We were able to attend some of the rallies and not for one single minute were we able to see any level of disenchantment among the people; not one level of misbehaviour,” said Michael Flood, the chief of the CARICOM observer mission.
The CARICOM Observer Mission comprised 11 members. The team arrived in Suriname on May 20 and got into action immediately after settling down.
Meetings were held with relevant authorities and stakeholders prior to polling day. It is interesting to note that everyone was satisfied with the preparations leading up to the Elections and expressed their confidence in the Independent Electoral Council to manage this election.
On Election Day, the team was divided into five (5) groups and these were deployed to seven of the ten polling districts. Boodhoo was sent to the districts of Coronie and Nickerie, where most Guyanese live.
The teams were out early enough to witness the opening of the polls at eleven different polling stations, where all teams reported incident-free openings.
The various teams were able to visit 267 polling stations out of a total of 580. During these visits, observers asked questions and had discussions with Electoral Officials and the electors alike. They also paid close attention to the voting process from the time voters walked into the stations, until they left. In some cases, observers were able to witness Officials redirecting people to the correct polling stations – all incident-free.
At the closing of the polls, Observers monitored how the lines were managed, and that too went incident free. Observers witnessed the counting of the ballots at separate stations, which went well through the night and in some cases into the early hours of the morning.
Nevertheless, the Observers stayed to ensure that the process was carried out in a fair and transparent manner.
“The team is of the view that the people of Suriname must be commended for their maturity throughout their general elections,” the observers declared in a preliminary statement.
A comprehensive report of the mission will be submitted to the CARICOM Secretariat within 21 days, at which time the Mission shall report on its findings and offer its recommendations.
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