I should wish to urge the Alliance For Change (AFC) leadership to make a public disclosure of its position on fraudulent electoral activities, or what we in our national vernacular call ‘rigged elections’. I hasten to invoke the work of Bertrand G. Ramcharan, whose book: ‘The Guyana Court of Appeal: The Challenges of the Rule of Law in a Developing Country’, discusses the invaluable significance of the rule of law to good governance and democracy; the economic, cultural, social, civil and political rights of citizens; fraudulent elections and oppression through law, among other things.

In the third chapter titled: ‘The Rule of Law’, under the sub-title: ‘Fraudulent Elections and Oppression Through Law’ the author asserts: “Following Guyana’s independence in 1966, the government’s control of the country under the Presidency of Forbes Burnham could not, under any circumstances, be described as democratic”. The author continues: “It has been documented by impartial international observers that the 1968 elections in Guyana were massively rigged by the introduction of the ‘overseas vote’. The rigging of the elections permitted the People’s National Congress (PNC) party, led by Dr Forbes Burnham, to win a majority of votes and to become the dominant party in the country, thus displacing the People’s Progressive Party, headed by Dr Jagan, to second place.” The book, validated by a large gamut of findings contained in the reports of scores of international, independent, non-political observers and researchers, discusses the way the judicial system was used as a tool in the rampant electoral illegalities for which the PNC, from its inception, has become notorious. It also centres discourse on a number of other topical issues that should indulge the readership of any Guyanese who has an appreciation for history, especially political history of independent Guyana, and who might be curious to find out the origin of electoral scams.

AFC Co-Leader, Raphael Trotman, being a former member of the PNCR, should have more intimate institutional knowledge of the connections of the Robert Corbin-led party with manipulation of electoral processes and outcomes. In recent weeks, there have been allegations of massive rigging of elections internal to the party, from District Conference to Party Leadership. These allegations have been contributing to further fragmentation of the party, rendering it impotent in its posture as a main opposition party. Interestingly, not once was there any publication from the AFC condemning the electoral fraud attributable to the PNCR. What is pellucid is the alignment between the two parties. It leaves one to wonder: Is the AFC aligning to change the state of affairs of the PNCR? Or is it an alliance for fraud?