U.S. warns of ‘serious consequences’ if Gov’t is formed from electoral fraud

The United States Government on Tuesday increased pressure for there to be a credible and transparent vote count in Guyana from the March 2 elections, warning of serious consequences if a Government is formed based on electoral fraud.

“It’s important to note that the individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate governments – regimes – will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States,” said Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State. He was speaking at a press briefing Tuesday.

He said the United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes here and joins with the OAS, the Commonwealth, the European Union, CARICOM and other democratic partners in calling for an accurate count.

“We commend CARCIOM’s role in seeking a swift democratic resolution…,” Pompeo stated.

A high-level team from CARICOM arrived in Guyana last Saturday night to supervise a national recount after opposition parties and international and local observers denounced the vote count for Region Four, saying numbers were jacked up in favour of the APNU+AFC Coalition and that the vote count did not follow a clear court order for the Statements of Poll from the Region to be displayed so that all stakeholders could see.

President David Granger, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and the CARICOM Secretary-General have signed the agreement to allow the CARICOM High-Level team to supervise a national recount, but the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which had already agreed to the exercise, has now said it wants to get legal advice first before it proceeds.