By Nelson A. King
Guyana President David
Granger on Monday declined
to criticize his Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) counterparts
over the disputed March
2 elections, saying that “it’s
premature for anybody to make
a declaration” in the impasse.
“Nobody has won, nobody
has lost; I will not criticize
Prime Minister Mottley,” said
Granger in an exclusive interview
with Caribbean Life, referring
to Barbados’s Prime Minister,
Mia Mottley, the current
chairman of CARICOM.
“I know the Prime Minister
of Trinidad and Tobago Dr.
(Keith) Rowley, the Prime Minister
of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines (Dr. Ralph Gonsalves)
made statements,”
he added. “We’re colleagues,
we’re friends; they were here
(in Georgetown, Guyana), and
they have the best interest of
Guyana.”
The Guyana president also
said that he has “tremendous
respect” for Mottley, who, along
with four regional Heads, visited
Caribbean L 10 ife, JULY 3-9, 2020
Guyana in March amid the
disputed elections.
Mottley, last Wednesday,
told reporters in Barbados that
“many of us have observed with
great sadness what has been
transpiring in Guyana.
“It is more than 100 days
since the people of Guyana
went to the polls. And yet there
is no declared result,” she said.
“From the very beginning, we
have been clear and said consistently
that every vote must
count and every vote must be
made to count in a fair and
transparent way.”
But she added that, “regrettably,
we have seen a level of
gamesmanship that has left
much to be desired and has definitely
not portrayed our Caribbean
region in the best light.
“This is definitely not our
finest hour, and we must not
shy away from that reality,”
said the CARICOM chair, adding
that CARICOM “is concerned
at reports that the chief
elections officer has submitted
a report to the Guyana Elections
Commission (GECOM),
which is contrary to the directions
given by the Commission
and which does not reflect the
results of the recount process
as certified by the very
staff of the Guyana Elections
Commission and witnessed by
representatives of the political
parties.”
But when pressed on Saturday
about criticisms levelled at
her for her remarks, by certain
sections of Guyana, including
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo,
Mottley told a news
conference: “The truth hurts.”
“The truth hurts; I have
nothing more to say,” she said.
“But what we must never do in
CARICOM is avoid the truth
and avoid our principles, thank
you very much and have a
pleasant day.”
Two weeks ago, in an exclusive
Caribbean Life interview,
Nagamootoo described as
“malicious” Gonsalves’s statement
on the Guyana elections,
stating that it was made to
Guyana’s President David Granger.
“prejudice the recount process.”
“For the prime minister of
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
to suggest how the recount
should be treated is very disappointing
to me,” Nagamootoo
said.
“It gives me a personal hurt
for Ralph (Gonsalves) to make
a statement about the election
process, particularly with him
becoming the incoming chair
of CARICOM,” he added.
Speaking, earlier this month,
on a program on the stateowned
NBC Radio St.Vincent
and the Grenadines, Gonsalves
said: “We expect the CARICOM
observer mission to deliver its
report, and we expect that the
recount would be honored and
the Guyana Elections Commission
would declare the winner,
in accordance with this
recount.”
Guyana prez declines to
criticize CARICOM colleagues
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