Guyana asks UNASUR for election observers

Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 January 2015, 20:47 by GxMedia

As Guyana’s President, Donald Ramotar prepares to call general elections Tuesday evening, the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper says he sees no problem with the suspension of Guyana’s Parliament.

That’s in contrast to Britain saying that the continued suspension of Parliament with no valid reason violates the Commonwealth Charter

Samper told reporters in Suriname before arriving in Guyana, that UNASUR will be willing to mediate only if both government and the opposition seek the assistance of the South American organisation.

In Guyana, after meeting with President Ramotar the UNASUR Secretary General said that the Guyanese leader has requested electoral observers.

High level political sources said that the President is expected to dissolve parliament and announce that Guyanese would go to the polls in early May.

President Ramotar’s calls for dialogue and an agreement on a post-suspension parliamentary agenda have been all rebuffed by the opposition parties that have said that they would only go into talks if the suspension is lifted.

The Guyanese leader suspended the Parliament on November 10 to stave off the passage of a no-confidence motion in his administration.

 If that had happened, elections would have had to be held in January but the Guyana Elections Commission would not have been ready.

The National Assembly has not held a sitting since July 10 and the House went into its two-month recess on August 10.

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