GUYANA’S ELECTION RESULTS

The General Election in Guyana took place on 2 March 2020.  It should have been quite a simple process. Vote, count the ballots and victor declared.  There were multiple observer teams. You had the Organization of American States, the Commonwealth, CARICOM, EU and the Carter Centre.  You also had the  Ambassadors of the US, UK and Canada watching over every step.  They all support the Guyana Indian Opposition party People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), headed by former President Barratt Jagdeo (40 per cent of the population).  The Governing party is Afro Guyanese with a  coalition of indigenous people called: A partnership for National Unity plus the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) (30 per cent of the population with 11 per cent indigenous) .  The count went smoothly and the opposition was ahead by what they considered an unassailable majority with only one region, region 4, the largest administrative region to report in. When that came in, the deficit had been overcome and the Government declared itself the winner.  Not so fast. The Opposition claimed a coup d’état and went to court and got an injunction to prevent the results from being declared unless the law was followed.  Then there were small outbursts of violence and confusion.  The international observes jumped in and said that the count was irregular.  As at today, no one is quite certain what the result is.