Dear Editor

AND so it begins, the old political games of the past have once again reared their ugly heads. Violence and intimidation that we expected to be confined to the dustbin of history are now, once again, part of our democracy.

This past week, reports of GECOM officials being attacked and harassed during their work in house-to-house registration has shocked the nation. There have even been instances of dogs being set upon these poor souls.

What has driven these ordinary folk to display such levels of aggression towards those who want to ensure that they have their democratic right to vote? Well it is the misrepresentation of this process by the PPP, who claim that it is “illegal” and part of some broader conspiracy of electoral fraud. They are inciting fear and mistrust among the public, making them believe that this process is somehow to their detriment.

The ongoing registration exercise has been a normal part of the democratic process. It is to ensure that those who have turned 18 since the last election are able to exercise their right to vote, and those who are not eligible, including individuals who have sadly passed away or who have emigrated, are not on the electoral roll.

The PPP wants to participate in an election with a list that is not sanitised. This exposes our elections to potentially massive voter fraud.

They have also shown a blatant disregard for young Guyanese voters. By demanding to use the current list, they are preventing thousands of young people from voting. Democracy is vital to a healthy society; it is important that we must guarantee that every man and woman should be able to exercise their right to choose who governs them.

At all costs, the process must move forward with a list that is both clean and credible. The worrying attempts by Irfaan Ali and his PPP party to shut down the only route to a trustworthy election should raise concerns with the public, businesses and international observers.

But it is their use of violence that makes me question whether they are really the right people to run this nation. Their willingness to sow division and mistrust along racial lines is a cynical tactic that they’ve used before. They present a position of us versus them, a government for Indo-Guyanese versus a government for Afro-Guyanese (as though it is not possible for a government to be for all Guyanese), playing on the darkest emotions of fear and mistrust.

The previous PPP government used this tactic repeatedly to help benefit themselves and their cronies; playing on racial division to distract the electorate from the real issues at hand.

Under the previous 23 years of PPP government, we saw our infrastructure crumble, our education system collapse, and crime spiral out of control. The economy was stagnating and there were little opportunities for ordinary Guyanese, with tens of thousands emigrating each year.

Finally, we have a government that is not just working for itself, but working for all of Guyana. They have confronted the long-running problems of ethnic division through innovative programmes, provided public services across the country, and continue to build a stronger economy so every Guyanese has access to well-paying and skilled jobs.

Maybe this comes with a coalition government, one that must work together across party lines, and thus collaborate in order to get things done.

To create a nation that works for us all, we must be given our opportunity to have our say. For voting is the one thing that ensures that the next government must listen to not just one group or one community, but all Guyanese.
The absence of a sanitised list would mean a return to cronyism, deceitful tactics, and back-handers that defrauded the public and the country of funds and value for more than two decades. This would not only undermine the long-term business and investment case for Guyana, but make any argument for the creation of jobs nothing more than rhetoric.

Never before have the risks been so high, particularly as we move forward to first-oil production in Guyana. Never before has the requirement for a credible election been so pressing. Guyana needs to move forward with a government which has demonstrated, since 2015, a capacity to provide a level of development for all Guyanese, not a government that can be born out of trickery and dishonesty.

Regards
Donald Ainsworth