Three esteemed legal professions from around the Caribbean were sworn in today by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan to form a Commission of Inquiry that will probe events surrounding Guyana’s disputed 2020 Regional and General Election.

Retired Justice of Appeal from Trinidad and Tobago Justice Stanley John is the commission’s Chairman while former Attorney General, High Court Judge and Acting Justice of Appeal in the Eastern Caribbean, Godfrey P Smith SC and former Chancellor of Guyana’s Judiciary, Carl Singh will serve as commissioners.

Dr S Y Quraishi, the former Chair and Chief Elections Commissioner of India, was supposed to be on the commission but he was not been sworn in to date.

Following the swearing-in, Guyanese Attorney Anil Nandlall told members of the media that the Commission’s Terms of Reference will be made public in the coming days.

The former A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government led by President David Granger is accused of attempting to thwart the results of the March 2020 election, which saw the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) return to power.

The APNU+AFC claimed the election results were fraudulent due to several irregularities, which included claims that votes were cast in the names of dead persons.

The opposition has not provided any evidence to support its claims.

The Caribbean Court of Justice is expected to hand down a ruling soon on an Election Petition that was filed shortly after the election.

Former APNU+AFC MP and Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence; Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers; Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo and two junior staff of the Guyana Elections Commission are before the courts on charges of misbehaviour in public office and fraud.