Dear Editor,
OVER the last few weeks I have noticed relentless efforts by the PPP/C and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to malign the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and its Chairperson Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh. This attack is being led by known media agents/mouthpieces of the PPP which include both the printed and electronic media.

The Guyana Times, one of the PPP’s leading mouthpieces, almost on a daily basis publishes these lavish allegations. The assault on GECOM and its chair is multi-pronged. For instance, on January 9, 2020, The Guyana Times and an online PPP outlet “INews” carried an almost identical article, in furtherance of their party’s smear campaign. On that day the INews article was captioned “GECOM tampering with NRR” and the other titled “GECOM “tampering” with NRR – PPP”, and carried by the Guyana Times. In these articles the opposition PPP alleged that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was tampering with the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB). The PPP claimed that GECOM was using unverified H2H information to adjust voters’ information on the NRR. This is a serious allegation which the GECOM categorically debunked by exposing the falsities.

The chairperson, in her own response to this dangerous lie, deemed the news reports as poor and an attempt to sensationalise. I applaud Justice Singh for her almost immediate rebuttal of the lies and attacks on GECOM by the opposition. Her tone and temperament seem ideal for this most important office. Justice Singh, in her many responses to the PPP’s fabrications, provided sound legal basis and reasoning for any action GECOM took. She also called out the opposition deceptions and forcefully restated the facts.  As a consequence of this kind of timely and factual response to the PPP’s concoctions, the PPP is not able to get the kind of traction they were hoping to gain from their misinformation campaign. However, they refuse to give up on their efforts.

Editor, it is rather perplexing that the opposition and the PPP seem to be on a mission to discredit and tarnish the character of the GECOM chairperson and to attack the credibility of GECOM. The said opposition leader a few months ago lauded Justice Singh as competent, fair and a person of high integrity. In fact, at Justice Singh’s swearing-in ceremony, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and his party expressed confidence in Justice Singh’s appointment. Bharrat Jagdeo noted that he was satisfied with her nomination and subsequent appointment. So, what has gone wrong in this short time? Was the opposition hoping that Justice Singh would compromise her integrity and succumb to their pressure campaign? Was she supposed to bow to the PPP’s pressure and disqualify those young eligible voters who made every effort to ensure that they got registered during the last registration exercise? Was Justice Singh supposed to bow to the PPP’s demands and take action to disenfranchise thousands of eligible Guyanese voters, merely because their address may have changed! Why is Justice Singh coming under such vicious attacks by the opposition? Are they hoping to have her engage in actions which may occasion some kind of reverse discrimination? This constant banging at GECOM by the PPP seems to be well timed, intentional and choreographed. It is a political strategy intended to achieve some specific outcomes. Allow me, therefore, to elucidate these potential outcomes targeted by the PPP.

For starters, the PPP is seeing the writing on the wall. There is no way the Guyanese electorate will vote them back into office. Guyanese people have not forgotten those long 23 years! Further, the PPP knows that it has taken actions that are self-defeating, so now it is beginning to come to grips with the daunting reality, of the fact that many of its supporters refused to register to vote. They refused because the opposition leader told them not to do so. What is the strategy now! It is clear that the PPP and its operatives have delved deep into their toolkits to resort to what they know best! Lies and misinformation! With their foreign helpers, the PPP seemed to have adopted a three-pronged approach. The first is to directly attack the office responsible for conducting the elections, GECOM. The primary objective is to discredit the chairperson and the commission. Charges of bias, and attacks on the procedures and systems used to make the commission function will be targeted. The aim here is to raise all kinds of baseless claims which seeks to project the PPP as a victim of GECOM. What does the party hope to achieve out of this strategy is anyone’s guess It appears that the hope is to make enough outrageous allegations and challenge every action by GECOM, in order to cause enough people to pay attention.

The international community is the PPP’s main audience. The thinking is that once they throw enough allegations out there the international community may want to intervene and attempt to make some statements. They feel that any such statement may work in their favour as they would have gained the attention they seek. These statements may then be used as PPP campaign propaganda talking points. These talking points will be repeated ad nauseam to their supporters in an attempt to soundly persuade. The general message to the supporters will be one which projects GECOM and its chairperson as bias against the PPP.

The PPP hopes that, with a support base that questions the integrity of GECOM, it may become easy to sell the idea that it was cheated at the elections. This speaks to what appears to be the second effort by the opposition, which is to lay the ground work to cry foul after the May 2, 2020 elections are declared. Those of us who have been paying attention to the PPP’s political antics, over the years, are able to predict just how they think. It is astonishing that the party continues to be so transparent in conducting its disruptive plan. I have read media reports of every PPP attack on GECOM.

I have also kept myself abreast of GECOM and its chairperson’s response to these attacks. The PPP seems to have a targeted and structured approach to their attacks. Every allegation by the party strikes straight at the heart of the elections results, when you remove all the fluff from the claims. Make no mistake, the PPP is setting the stage to cry foul! The strategy is obvious! It is therefore very important that the government and its supporters be extra vigilant. Every effort must be made to ensure that the PPP’s strategy does not work. Guyanese expect a free and fair election. Efforts to discredit or disrupt the electoral process must not succeed.

The attempt at orchestrating a situation where reverse psychology may lead to reverse discrimination must not be realised. The PPP is on the back foot and they appear vicious! I imagine that as we get closer to elections the assault on GECOM and its chair will become more personal and outlandish! The attack on Madam Justice Singh, this female role model may come from all angles and can become very nasty! Justice Claudette Singh remains a most credible individual, with the highest of integrity. I therefore, feel compelled to write to speak of her character and let those in the international community know that the PPP’s efforts to discredit her will not work! She is a Guyanese woman people are proud of. The PPP must know that its constant efforts to malign GECOM and its chair can do damage beyond the walls of GECOM. It may very well have the potential to cause serious disunity and strife in the society. I hope they rethink their strategy in the interest of the country.
Sincerely
Lurlene Nestor