The exclusion of international, independent Election Observers was recorded in a July 27, 1990 letters to then Secretary of State, James Barker, by members of the United States of America’s Congress, who were also members of the Committee of Foreign Affairs.
“We are concerned that the upcoming national elections in Guyana, like the past elections in that country, will not be free and fair, and that continued disbursement of United States economic and other aid to Guyana will serve only to perpetuate and entrench an undemocratic government,” the letter said, with calls for withholding of all aid to Guyana.
The organisations that were not receiving permission to act as election observers were the United Nations, the Organisation of American States (OAS) and President Jimmy Carter’s Council of Freely-Elected Heads of Government.
The letter added, “The PNC’s history of electoral fraud and the government’s refusal to accept changes in the election law, or the presence of additional international observers, suggest that much more needs to be done. The United States should never support nor subsidize governments that remain in power through electoral fraud.”
The 1990 letter’s relevance is evidenced in the fact that the recount of votes from the March 2, 2020 Elections commenced on Wednesday (May 6, 2020) without the presence of any of the four major international Election Observer Missions – the Commonwealth, the Organisation of American States (OAS), the European Union and the Carter Center.
In fact, permission to the Carter Center has been denied. Several other malpractices by the People’s National Congress were also highlighted in the letter. The PNC is the majority partner in the current APNU+AFC Coalition government.
The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) in brief comments on the 1990 letter said, “This letter has relevance today as it shows that the PNC, despite the name change, remains the same and that it is quite prepared to walk back the same path of fraudulent elections 30 years later.” The 1990 letter was signed by eight US Congressmen.
