OAS Assistant Secretary- General Albert Ramdin

During the three-day visit, Ramdin will meet with the President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Rudolph Insanally, as well as with officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). The OAS delegation will also meet with representatives of political parties, local electoral observer groups, the private sector and the international community, in order to assess the current situation and lay the groundwork for the arrival of OAS electoral observers.

“We look forward to the voting taking place in a peaceful environment, and we hope that everything is in place for the proper conduct of the elections on August 28th,” Ramdin said today before leaving on his fourth visit to Georgetown this year.

In remarks yesterday to the OAS Permanent Council, the Assistant Secretary General noted that the OAS has had a two-member advance team on the ground since May and plans to send additional experts to Guyana by the middle of this month. During the days just prior to the vote, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission will field some 60 election observers throughout the country.

The OAS is observing the process at the invitation of the government of Guyana. During yesterday’s meeting, Ambassador Bayney Karran of Guyana told the Permanent Council that the role of observer missions is “vital” to the electoral process and thanked the member states for their support.