The Elections Observer Mission from the European Union has started its work with the first group of observers arriving in Guyana.
The EU Observer Mission is here at the invitation of President David Granger. The teams from the mission will be dispatched to the various regions across Guyana in the run-up to and during the elections.
At a press conference this morning, the Deputy Chief Observer for the EU, Alexander Matus said core analysts will be part of the team observing the electoral process in the country.
“When I said that EU is deploying a full-fledged Observer Mission, it means that there will be a core team of analysts based here in Georgetown, we will have long term observers who will be deployed for six weeks across the country and shortly before election day, e will have also short term observers who will be deployed before, during and after election day”, the official explained.
The fourteen (14) long term observers, who were deployed today will be working in teams of two.
Three of the teams will be expected to observe three regions ensuring that all 10 administrative regions are being observed in the periods before, during and after the elections.
The Deputy Chief Observer said that the team has brought together experienced observers who are from three different EU member states and Norway.
Over the past three days, they were involved in extensive training on the local electoral system and the legal, media and security landscape in Guyana.
The long term Observers are expected to be the Mission’s eyes and ears in the various regions and will report to the core team in Georgetown weekly.
One of the long term Observers is Nicolas Koukollis who explained that as part of their fan out across the country, they will be meeting with regional officials and other stakeholders including the political parties and civil society groups.
The Chief Observer for the Mission is expected in the country this evening. (by Anthony Glasgow)
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