By William Walker
Stabroek News
March 21, 2001
In a preliminary position on Monday's election former US President
Jimmy Carter described polling day as very good and he implored the
winning party to offer the hand of cooperation to the opposition.
With the absence of conclusive results the Carter Center stated it
was "too early to evaluate the election as a whole. Ultimately
the Guyanese people will judge the electoral process". Carter
expressed "deep concern" over the lack of information coming
out of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Carter as head of a
44-member delegation will be leaving this morning without a clear
indication of the outcome of the elections.
At a press briefing at Le Meridien Pegasus yesterday Carter recalled
that at 9.30 am observers were informed of results for some 76,000
ballots but up to 4.30 pm GECOM had released to the public only
results for 46,000. (GECOM last night updated these figures.) Carter
said that the delay would create doubts in the electorate. He
reportedly went into GECOM at 2 pm yesterday afternoon and urged
officials to speed up the process. The concern over the delays was
echoed by Mark Stevens head of the European Union observer group and
by CARICOM and Commonwealth officials.
Meanwhile, Carter said of the 380 stations personally observed by the
Carter Center mission only three had serious problems and these
occurred after polls were supposed to be closed. There were two
instances in Region Four where groups of persons not totalling more
than twenty were allowed to vote although they were not on the list.
Carter said this was statistically insignificant. The impact of
procedural errors and omissions from the list would only become
apparent in a marginal race.
In a preliminary statement read by Erskine Sandiford, co-leader of
the team, the Carter Center said "the electoral process was
generally peaceful and orderly throughout the country and delegations
reported a high turnout in all regions. The delegation found citizens
eagerly but patiently waiting in many areas sometimes in long lines to
exercise their right to vote."
The release noted "the most common area of concern was the
voters list. GECOM has stated the list is 95% accurate, leaving a five
percent margin of error. All political parties have expressed concerns
about the accuracy of the final voters list. The limited Carter Center
observation data has to date not shown major systematic irregularities
in the list ...it is difficult to ascertain the magnitude of this
issue at this point given there are no uniform mechanisms for tracking
these complaints."
"The closing of polls and ballot count. Nearly all of the Carter
Center observation teams reported confusion at the closing of polling
stations. Many polling officials received instructions through GECOM
personnel, the media or others to allow voting after the scheduled
closing time. Some polls that had been closed were reopened.
Delegations deployed in Georgetown reported a rush of individuals
during this period at some polling stations, while delegates in other
regions reported few or no voters during this period. Without clear
instructions from GECOM, polling officials were uncertain whether to
allow or to proceed with closing and the tabulation of results."
This observation was corroborated by teams from the European Mission
who returned to South Georgetown yesterday having been threatened by
crowds late Monday.
The Carter Center statement continued that its delegates "observed
the counting and tabulation of ballots at 21 sites .....the teams
found that the administrative process during closing made the vote
count extremely slow at most of the sites observed."
Stabroek News understands that a senior diplomat
observed counting in a Georgetown station until 12.30 am. After
closing, the staff was forced to secure the doors after crowds became
restless.
The centre notes that polling officials were professional, well
organised and impartial.
Carter also praised the peaceful persistence of polling day staff and
of voters. He made an impassioned call for the leaders to be similarly
dedicated in bringing the nation together. Guyana faced two options
after the elections, Carter said; to either continue on a path of
sharp political and ethnic divisions resulting in a minimum of social
and economic progress; or to face a future in as unified a fashion as
possible with two parties committed to communication.
And Carter pointed out the way forward lay in the unfinished
constitutional reforms which would reduce the powers of the presidency
and put them in the hands of the parliament. The victor in these
elections must be willing to put these final reforms into effect. The
inherited "winner takes all" system must be changed by
Guyanese people; the Chancellor of the Judiciary should be chosen in
such a way so everyone has confidence in the integrity of the legal
system; the Auditor General must be chosen in a similar way; important
contracts should be decided in bilateral parliamentary committees.
Carter said over the years he had spoken to the leaders of both
parties and they had agreed privately that these changes needed to be
made.
But in the past the victorious party has not had the sensitivity or
grace to offer the hand of cooperation to a party that quite often had
no grace in defeat. There had to be goodwill which he said had not
seemed to exist. Carter noted that this was the only country the
centre has observed that still had vituperative advertising and
campaigning even on election day. He prayed that this "great
country endowed with enormous human and mineral resources" could
prosper. Carter recalled he and his wife Rosalyn had been fascinated
at the sight of three holy books in polling stations for use in the
oath of identity. It was an indication of the country's deep religious
beliefs and such faith was conducive to a spirit of forgiveness.