ACDA urges international community to back down from “irresponsible and unhelpful” statements

Last Updated on Friday, 6 March 2020, 18:26 by Writer

The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) on Friday called on key western nations and international observers to be cautious about the statements they have been issuing on the electoral situation in Guyana following the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections.

ACDA noted that their statements were not contributing to a lowering of tensions in a country whose population is made mainly of Guyanese of African and East Indian descent.

“ACDA views the statements made on the current election controversy by the International Observers and some of the Foreign Missions here in Guyana as irresponsible and unhelpful to the best interest of the Nation and only aids in fueling discord in an already ethnically cleaved society,” the organisation said.

The United States government and three members of the U.S. Congress, as well as joint statements by the U.S., Britain, Canada and the European Union also called for the Region Four election results to be tabulated and verified in keeping with legal procedures before results of the 2020 general elections are declared and a government is sworn in.

Similar calls were issued by election observer missions of the Carter Centre, Commonwealth, European Union and the Organisation of American States for the verification process to be conducted in accordance with set procedures.

ACDA said it has noted and condemns the rise in derogatory racial slurs and threats being made in social media and publicly against people of African Descent.

The organisation called on “all sides to demonstrate restraint and for a speedy resolution to the current impasse.”

David Granger’s A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) continues to claim victory in Monday’s general election which polling came in for high praise by the international observers.