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Guyana should explore all available tools to ensure free, fair elections – Outgoing U.S. Ambassador
Kaieteur News – Outgoing United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch on Thursday during a press briefing underscored that Guyana should explore all options to ensure free and fair elections.
Outgoing U.S Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch
During the press engagement, the U.S. Ambassador was asked what Guyana can do to ensure the upcoming 2025 elections are not a repeat of what occurred during the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
To this, the U.S official said, “I think there was a number of important lessons learned at the 2020 elections and I think the most important takeaway for me is that all political parties all have the same goal, from what I gathered they all want Guyana to succeed, they want the people of Guyana to have opportunities, access to increase opportunities, access to jobs all health care…”
She added that going forward, it is important for the political parties in Guyana to converse and talk about mutual agreements.
“Of course, they are political parties so they won’t agree to everything, but I think it is important for them to converse,” Lynch added.
Speaking on the country’s electoral system, she highlighted that the recent local government elections were free and fair. However, she noted that there are always recommendations to improve the country’s electoral system.
“The electoral process is critical to a strong democracy, so I would advise the people of Guyana, the Government, and all parties to look at those recommendations very closely, look at the recommendations that were made after the 2020 elections to see what stands out, what things can be worked on now,” the U.S Ambassador said.
To this end, she said that waiting until the last minute to make changes to ensure a smooth electoral process would not be the right route to take. Lynch noted that some recommendations that were made would take some time to implement, so it’s better to get ahead now.
According to Lynch, one takeaway from the 2020 Elections for the U.S. Embassy is that some polling stations did not have facilities to accommodate persons with disabilities. As such, she recommended that Guyana should ensure there is infrastructure to support everyone.
Moreover, the U.S. official shared that she understands that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently working on a report on Elections, which will contain several recommendations to improve the system.
Opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had made several calls for the use of biometrics for elections declaring that the technology should be part of GECOM’s efforts toward upgrading and improving the electoral process.
When asked about her thoughts on biometrics, the Ambassador said, “My understanding is that Guyana is exploring biometrics and I think many nations now are exploring biometrics, that’s one additional tool that can be used to ensure that elections are fair. I don’t know what the final decision will be but I think it is important to explore all tools that Guyana has access to, again in order to ensure that elections continue to be free.”
In August 2020, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) announced that they will be conducting a comprehensive investigation into the criminal conduct of the former GECOM officials and others, in relation to the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and the events that followed.
Following the probe, several GECOM officials were arrested and placed before the court to face electoral fraud charges. Those cases are still before the Court.
Also, the European Union earlier this year deployed an Election Follow-up Mission (EU EFM) to Guyana to assess progress towards electoral reform. The EU Election Observation Mission in 2020 offered 26 recommendations to stakeholders, addressing diverse aspects of elections, including the legal framework, election administration, the campaign and campaign finance, the media and social media, and electoral dispute resolution. In May 2023, it was revealed that two of the 26 recommendations were fully implemented.
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