Stay engaged -- OAS urges international community By Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
December 12, 2006

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THE international community must remain engaged in the political processes of Guyana, the Washington-based Organisation of American States (OAS) has recommended.

This is one proposal in the final report of the OAS observer mission that monitored the August 28 general and regional elections here, Assistant Secretary General of the organisation, Mr. Albert Ramdin, said in Georgetown yesterday.

According to him, the international community needs to provide adequate resources to consolidate democracy in Guyana, by helping to strengthen institutions such as GECOM and the National Assembly, and by promoting mechanisms for dialogue among the political parties and civil society.

Mr. Ramdin also stressed that confidence in Guyana’s electoral institutions must be boosted as an “important first step”.

He suggested that GECOM (Guyana Elections Commission) be made a technically and financially well-equipped, independent, non-partisan electoral institution that can provide electoral service that will be respected, not disputed.

Speaking at a one-day seminar at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown during his formal presentation of the final report of the OAS observer mission Ramdin said GECOM should be able to provide professional guidance in situations of uncertainty.

He also renewed the OAS offer to help design a programme of support, based on the needs and priorities identified by the Guyanese authorities.

He congratulated the Guyanese people on the orderly and peaceful conduct of the elections, and went on to stress “constant, open and structured dialogue between political parties and their leaders, in parliament and if so necessary even beyond to build the necessary trust among the stakeholders” as vital to strengthening peace and stability.

Ramdin formally presented a copy of the report to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, in the presence of a relatively small but high-level gathering that included Cabinet ministers, other politicians, members of the diplomatic community, senior representatives from civil society bodies and local, regional and international organisations and GECOM.

The 102-page report Ramdin presented states that: “The successful completion of the General and Regional Elections and the acceptance of results by all political participants represent an important step in achieving sustained dialogue and effective democratic governance in Guyana.”

It also commends the work of GECOM and its secretariat in the preparations for the elections; the political parties for their civil discourse; the Disciplined Forces, particularly the Police, for ensuring adequate security in all the polling stations throughout the country; civil society organisations in fostering a pre-electoral environment of peace and mutual respect and mobilising a significant number of observers on Elections Day.

HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY
“Without the commitment of these different groups, their leaders and the citizenry as a whole, this important democratic exercise would not have been possible,” Ramdin said.

“The peaceful conclusion of these elections represents an historic opportunity for politics to transcend race and ethnicity (and) to continue the process of strengthening democracy in Guyana; it is now important to promote an open debate about the electoral process and its actors,” he said during his presentation of the report.

He emphasised the important role the government can play in providing equal state media access to all contesting political parties in the run-up to elections, “on the basis of a code of conduct that directs the content, focus and presentation”.

Ramdin also said it gives him “great pleasure” to contribute to the strengthening of the democratic process in Guyana, “a country that is dear to my heart”.

Among other observations, the OAS said that despite the concerns of the political parties about registration and deficiencies in the Official List of Electors, identity checks were, in general, stringently carried out and the OAS mission uncovered “no evidence of fraudulent voting”.

It pointed out that safeguards such as the use of indelible ink, the presence of political party agents and electoral folios with voters’ photographs impeded the possibility of widespread, intentional disenfranchisement or double voting.

However, the OAS mission believes that the decision to not conduct the house-to-house verification of the information on the voters’ list, despite being stipulated in the electoral code and for which the government had allocated ample resources, unnecessarily cast doubt on the entire process and indeed compelled a delay of the elections beyond the original constitutional deadline.

Among its several recommendations, the OAS said GECOM should simplify procedures to be followed by the poll workers on Elections Day, especially those that pertain to the closing of polls. It said this process can be streamlined without jeopardising safeguards and may contribute to a quicker transmission of results.

As stipulated in the electoral code, the OAS said GECOM should conduct a house-to-house verification of the voters’ list. Conducting this process as soon as possible will ensure that a verified list of electors is available whenever elections are called, it said.

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION
Another recommendation the OAS made in its report was for GECOM to improve communication with all competing political parties, regardless of their size and parliamentary representation. This communication could be facilitated through scheduled and ad hoc meetings and briefings and as election preparations accelerate, meetings should be held with greater regularity, it said.

“While some of the smaller political parties might not have representation on the GECOM and lack a statutory authority in formulating electoral policies, they should be kept apprised of the decision-making process,” the report states.

The OAS also urged political parties to continue to promote politics based on national policies and refrain from inciting racial prejudices. “This campaign was more constructive than others recently observed, but there remains room for improvement,” the report says, adding that political parties should make every effort to commit to pre-electoral codes of conduct and adhere to them.

And as stipulated by the Constitution, the OAS said municipal elections should be held as soon as possible.

“Elective politics on the local level constitutes an important and inclusive mechanism for all political parties and departs from the notion of winner-take-all politics,” the OAS report asserts.