IT’s almost four weeks since Guyanese went to the polls to decide who would govern our beloved country for the next five years. Unfortunately, the final results have not been announced, thanks to a series of delaying tactics by one of the major contestants. Although GECOM made its declaration of the winner in the crucial Region Four district, that body has not been able to make a final declaration of the national results, largely because the opposition PPP has resorted to using the courts to challenge what it views as suspect results.

This publication supports the right to judicial review of any decision by a public agency; it is an essential part of a functioning democracy. But we are wary of attempts to use that mechanism to derail an entire election. If after four weeks Guyanese have become impatient and perhaps cynical, this is to be expected. Yes, the final results of elections in Guyana have always taken a little longer than in other CARICOM countries, but never has there been this long a delay. We do not wish to point fingers as there is enough blame to be shared by all contestants and stakeholders. Yet, at some point we have to call a spade a spade. There can be no avoidance of the undeniable fact that the PPP has set its face squarely against an outcome of these elections that sees that party as the loser.

In the process it has taken the country along a precarious path from which we may not be able to extricate ourselves without much damage to our national psyche. We have already witnessed flashes of violence that have gone against the grain of peaceful co-existence. Some have openly advocated for the withholding of goods and services as a form of political retaliation. And this is all taking place against the backdrop of some of the most incendiary rhetoric being used against whole groups of citizens, particularly on social media. This cannot be one of our proudest moments as a country.

We call attention to this state of affairs not to be alarmist, but to alert the country to the seriousness of the times. At a time when we should be linking our hearts and energies in common defence of a pandemic, our people are being set against each other by men and women who view the acquisition of political power as their only objective. We are not blinded to the fact that our politics have always had an element of dogfighting, but this has gone beyond the ordinary. History would not be kind to us if we continue to endanger the lives of citizens on two fronts—the Covid-19 virus and the threat of political instability.

It is high time that those who have used their voices in “defence of democracy” speak with the same intensity against the wilful sacrifice of our national gains at the altar of political expediency. The democracy that we have heard about in recent times cannot be one that is silent about racial bigotry. It cannot be one that condones violence against children, women and unarmed law enforcement officers, simply because of their pigmentation or perceived political affiliation. That democracy cannot be selective; it must be one that is impartial and moral.

Now more than ever our country cries out for a moral compass that eschews potential and actual domination. We have had an election. The umpire has made its call. Stop placing blockades in the way of the final determination. There is a place for elections petitions. There is also the option of sitting down and arriving at a political consensus. It is time to release Guyana from the vice that has been imposed by those who think that the country is their personal plantation.