‘We’re monitoring closely,’ Canada warns Guyana on Friday

Canadian officials continue to keep a close eye on developments in Guyana, as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country remains embroiled in controversy over elections held on March 2.

The results of the election are yet to be announced.

“We’re monitoring closely the legal proceedings related to Guyana’s elections,” Michael Grant, Assistant Deputy Minister, Americas of Global Affairs Canada, wrote in a tweet.

“We believe a recount of the ballots is necessary to ensure every vote is counted.

“The will of the people must be respected for Canada to recognize the legitimacy of a duly elected government,” Grant continued.

Several days after the elections, the country’s electoral commission ruled that President David Granger had won a second five-year term.

But international warnings that the vote might not be seen as valid led Granger a day later to accept a CARICOM call for a full recount.

Observer groups including the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth questioned the ballot counting process and the U.S. and other western nations have hinted at possible economic sanctions and visa revocations if any president is sworn in without a valid recount.

CARICOM subsequently sent a team of five prime ministers to try to resolve the conflict, but they left without a resolution.

The country of fewer than 1 million people faces the prospect that oil revenues in the next decade could make it one of the wealthiest in the hemisphere.

Guyana recently sold its first million barrels to markets in Asia and southern U.S. states. It will get four more shipments this year worth about $300 million as part of production-sharing arrangements with a consortium led by ExxonMobil, along with Hess Oil of the US and Nexen of China.

Granger, a 74-year-old retired army general, leads a multiparty coalition supported mainly by descendants of Africans brought to Guyana as slaves.

The opposition People’s Progressive Party, which led the nation for 23 years until 2015, is supported mostly by Guyanese of East Indian descent brought to Guyana as indentured servants.

Political tensions continue to running high in the country as residents wait to hear who will form the next government.

One thought on “‘We’re monitoring closely,’ Canada warns Guyana on Friday

  1. The Guyanese people needs all the support it can get from the international community to insure that an illegal president not sit in government even if it means air lifting him out of here to insure that DEMOCRACY is upheld

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