Last Updated on March 12, 2020, 4:36 AM AST by Anthony Morris
On Wednesday, several Caribbean prime ministers travelled to and gathered in Guyana. All of them had gathered to try and help to resolve the dispute regarding the elections of Guyana.
Presently, rival parties are competing against each other for control of massive oil revenues expected to come in the future years.
The 15-nation Caribbean Community has stepped up to intervene in a dispute which rose after March 2 elections. Both of the main political groups have claimed victory in the polls, and that has raised street unrest and as a result of which at least one person has died.
The political instability has come after Guyana, which has a population of fewer than 1 million people has discovered an abundant amount of oil and the expected oil revenue in the coming years can make Guyana one of the wealthiest nations in the hemisphere.
The Caribbean Community said in a statement that the delegation would meet with the leadership of all parties that contested the elections.
The delegation includes current chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Keith Mitchell of Grenada, Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica.
Retired Army Gen. David Granger is leading the governing coalition, and it claims that it has won the elections by two seats in the 65-seat parliament. On the other hand, the main opposition in the form of People’s Progressive Party, claims to have won by three seats.
A court was expected to give a ruling this week regarding the election whose results have not yet been formally declared.
The dispute has sprung the country into mass public unrest leading to street protests, by opposition supporters mostly.
During the protests, the Police shot and killed a teenager belonging to a coastal village. The Police have said that the teenager had attacked the Police with a machete.
Shotgun pellets have injured several other persons.
Many protesters have burned tires, threw stones at school buses, injuring several students and blocked the highways.
Guyana has recently sold its first million barrels to the open markets in the southern US states and the Far East.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
