American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Guyana, the organisation formed last year to forge commercial ties between local and United States-based businesses, has offered its support to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
This was communicated in a statement on Tuesday, in which the Chamber revealed that it sent a delegation led by AmCham President Zulfikar Ally, which met with GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh, as well as her six commissioners: Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick, Robeson Benn, Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman.
The Commission was updated on the role and functions of AmCham Guyana and the upcoming initiatives that the organisation intend to pursue during and leading up to the national elections expected to be held in March 2020. One of these is the training for journalists on elections coverage.
“The Commission welcomed the offer of support from AmCham Guyana and committed to deliberate on granting observer status to the organisation. The Commission also took the opportunity to enquire about AmCham Guyana’s global network and offered assistance to sensitise the Chambers’ members on the GECOM Secretariat’s role and function,” AmCham said in a statement.
According to AmCham, they agreed with the Commission to collaborate closely on matters pertaining to any support GECOM may need in the lead up to the General and Regional Elections next year.
GECOM is likely to receive assistance from multiple sources, as it seeks to conduct a long overdue election on March 2 of 2020. It was only recently announced that GECOM would be benefiting from the technical expertise of the retired Chief Electoral Officer of Canada’s elections body, Jean-Pierre Kingsley.
His appointment is being funded by the Canadian Government. According to GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, the Canadian High Commission had offered the elections body technical assistance in the form of providing an expert and the seven-member Elections Commission had accepted the offer, which resulted in the former Canadian Electoral Officer being appointed.
Kingsley, who has 17 years of experience under his belt, is currently in Guyana conducting familiarisation meetings with stakeholders. He has already met the Justice Claudette Singh-led GECOM Commission last week, as well as the senior management at the elections body.
The former Canadian Chief Electoral Officer served from 1990 to 2007, during which he participated in many significant international development missions aimed at promoting democratic electoral processes through cooperation, capacity building, and mutually beneficial relationships. He also provided electoral assistance to several Caribbean countries, including Trinidad and Tobago.
