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Panel for election COI could be drawn from CARICOM, OAS, Commonwealth – President Ali
The panel for the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the protracted March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections may very well emerge from those organisations who championed democracy during the five-month impasse.
President Irfaan Ali
Same was revealed by President Irfaan Ali during an interview with Jamaica’s CEEN TV – ‘The Conversation.’
President Ali reiterated his commitment to ensure that a COI is conducted into what occurred both during and after the election to ensure that the authors are held accountable for the role they played. “You have to be held accountable for your actions, and your actions caused tremendous harm to the people of Guyana and to our country,” President Ali said.
Responding to questions regarding who would fill the panel, President Ali stated that the region has always been Guyana’s first call. “Definitely, I think the region would have to play a part, but we have also gotten requests from many of the international organisations – OAS, Commonwealth and so on. These are all organisations that played a key role, fighting for Guyana’s democracy. So between the OAS, Commonwealth and CARICOM, I think we will have a great opportunity to determine a good panel to look at the COI,” President Ali noted.
During his inauguration speech, President Ali had made it clear that the painful events of the last five months are etched into the minds of Guyanese all across the world, “as vigorous attempts were made to destroy our democratic credentials, and deny the will of the electorate.”
“Therefore, a review of events – related to the electoral process over the last five months – will begin shortly in order to determine, forensically, exactly what transpired, and to hold accountable any person who sought to pervert and corrupt the system.”
Guyana’s 2020 election process only came to an end on August 2, bringing to finality, the five month-long process dubbed “the mother of all elections”.
Though the voting process which ended on March 2, a timely conclusion to the election was marred by a series of events – the fraudulent acts of Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, and the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, and a string of court litigations brought by members of the then A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition were all aimed at granting a false victory to that party. Already, the CEO is facing three private criminal charges related to the fraudulent declaration of results.
At the conclusion of the national recount, however, the will of the people was reflected revealing a win for the PPP/C. It was owing to these events that President Ali vowed to ensure it never reoccurs.
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