GEORGETOWN, GUYANA-Guyana’s People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) seems to have a huge lead in the election race, which, if it wins, will give President Irfaan Ali a second term in office.
Partial figures from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on the afternoon of September 3 showed the PPP with 220,489 votes in eight of the ten districts. The We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, founded three months ago, had the second-highest number of votes at 98,152.
PPP won seven districts while WIN captured one. Official tallies for regions five and seven are pending.
Caricom mounted a ten-member Caricom election observer mission (CEOM) to observe Guyana’s general and regional elections on the invitation of the government.
During a media conference in Guyana on September 2, Josephine Tamai, chief of mission of the CEOM for the September 1 election, said it was in the country from August 26-September 3.
“Its mandate is to provide an independent, impartial, and honest assessment of the entire electoral process, considering all factors that may impact the overall credibility and transparency of the elections.”
She said the members observed no real issues with the opening of the poll, voting process, closing of the poll, counting of ballots, or the tabulation of results.
“The CEOM is of the view that on election day, electors were able to exercise their franchise in a peaceful and orderly manner and without significant incident. The team observed no signs of intimidation, harassment, or campaigning intended to influence or obstruct the democratic process.”