GUYANA: PLENTY ELECTIONS BUT ‘UNITY’ STILL ELUSIVE
President David Granger
President David Granger

THE Republic of Guyana concluded its sixth successive general elections this past May 11, since the end in 1992 of successively rigged elections. The poll resulted in a change in government from a People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-led administration in favour of one headed by a People’s National Congress-led regime under the umbrella of the APNU/AFC coalition.

The harsh reality, however, is that the primary contenders for control of state power, based on verified free elections – People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and People’s National Congress(PNC) — continue to prolong their agonising state of denial to what both claim commitment: That’s NATIONAL UNITY of the multi-ethnic, culturally diverse peoples, predominantly citizens of Indian and African descent.

Former President Donald Ramotar
Former President Donald Ramotar

This time around, after being in Opposition for five consecutive parliamentary elections since 1992, the PNC, as dominant partner of the APNU/AFC coalition, emerged victorious over the PPPC with a one-seat majority for the 65-member National Assembly.
It was a virtual replay of the outcome of the November 2011 elections with a most significant difference.
Then the APNU/AFC coalition had secured a one seat majority for the 65-member parliament –33 to the PPP’s 32 — but with the vital Executive Presidency with its enormous constitutional powers going to the incumbent PPP.

This time around, the PNC-led APNU/AFC coalition managed to secure the vital Executive Presidency along with a repeat one-seat majority (33) in the National Assembly.
According to the official results, as declared by the bi-partisan Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the APNU/AFC coalition won the Government by securing an overall total of 205,001 valid votes from an eligible electorate of approximately 570,708 registered voters with a calculated 72 percent response on May 11.
DATA AND REALITY
Sections of the local media have been pointing to statistics that show a difference of less than 3,000 votes secured by the victorious APNU/AFC coalition, which is a significant factor for those favouring a national unity governance framework.

At the present time, while President Ganger, a retired Brigadier of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), is immersed in arrangements for shaping his first cabinet, ex-President Donald Ramotar was preoccupied in mobilising his People’s Progressive Party supporters to expose what he has angrily communicated to regional and international governments and institutions as examples of claimed corrupt practices in the assembling, counting and declaration of the valid votes cast.
This scenario is reminiscent of previous rows that accompanied earlier elections and in sharp contrast to the conduct and general mood of national elections in other CARICOM member states.
President Granger has been offering varying gestures in favour of “national unity” and the need for co-operation between his Government and the Opposition PPPC. So far, however, as claimed by ex-President Ramotar, he has not received any verbal or written communication for a meeting to address the issue of structured arrangements to face the post-election challenges.
Truth is, as both Messrs Granger and Ramotar well know, they are separately still locked in an old, stagnant political mould that continues to reveal the sad, tragic political division which remains a depressing political/cultural reality of Guyana—the CARICOM member state that proudly proclaims its national motto of ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’.
(Rickey Singh is a noted Barbados-based Caribbean journalist)

 

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