The election season is here. In a matter of eight short weeks Guyanese would be going to the polls to elect a new government. This is the eleventh time since independence in 1966 and the fifteenth since self-government that Guyanese would be engaged in this very important exercise. It is perhaps the single most important national undertaking given the fact that almost every other significant area of national life is related to the outcome of elections. As the saying goes and as we have editorialised before, elections have consequences. In our case, given the winner-takes-all majoritarian system, whichever party or parties wins an election controls national decision making.

Elections have consequences for democratic standing of a country and for democratic governance. As a functioning democracy, holding periodic elections is one of the standards by which the country’s standing would be measured by the international community and by local human rights groups. Indeed, one of the central aspects of democracy is the holding of regular competitive elections. In fact, one could argue that there is no democracy without elections. There is, of course, the view that democracy confined to elections is at best a flawed notion. But even this school of thought recognises the centrality of elections to a flourishing democracy.

But holding elections just to satisfy the minimum standards of democracy flies in the face of the spirt of democracy. Elections must meet both the democratic letter and spirit. It is for that reason that we must insist on free and fair elections that are free from fear. The electoral process begins with registration and the compilation of the voters’ list and ends with the actual casting of the ballot and the honest counting of the votes. It is why the attempts by one party to get GECOM to agree to a questionable list must be rebuffed at all cost. A credible voters list is critical to the holding of free and fair elections.
Everything should be done to make sure that the elections are above board. Parties should insist on this very high standard. It is tempting for contestants to try to get unfair advantage over their opponents. But in the end this diminishes the country as a whole and deflates confidence in the electoral process.

A democratic election must also be free from fear. We have heard of instances where people from some communities are being ostrasised if it becomes known that they intend to vote for a party that is not the choice of the majority of the community. This is unacceptable. People must be free to associate with any party of their choice. If voters are being bullied to vote for a party for ethno-political reasons, it is a clear violation of the principle of free and fair elections that are free from fear.

Another aspect of democratic election is the right of citizens to receive accurate information so that they could make informed decisions. In this regard any party that engages in deliberate pedaling of false information aimed at influencing the way citizens vote is committing one of the cardinal democratic sins. Media houses in particular should pay attention to accurate and fair reporting. Information coming from a political party should be verified before publication. We have already witnessed instances where the main opposition political party has engaged in this behaviour.

Finally, democratic elections are premised on universal participation. The more citizens participate in elections the more democratic those elections are. We therefore warn against voter suppression ether directly or indirectly. We further call on citizens to exercise their right to vote. It is a scared right that was fought for in the long struggle for freedom. Dissatisfaction with parties is not enough reason to willingly forfeit the vote. Every voter who decides not to vote is in effect surrendering governance to those who are bent on hijacking the will of the majority.