Dear Editor,
IT seems like open season for ‘open letters’! As such, I’ve decided to pen my open letter to the Madam Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, Retired Justice Claudette Singh.

Madam Chairperson, you may not know me, and I’ve never met you. Nevertheless, I feel obliged to write this open letter to you. Please crave my indulgence as I introduce myself to you. I am no retired army brigadier/former chairman of GECOM, nor am I some former ambassador or knighted professor. I am no wealthy businessman, neither am I some presidential hopeful, minister or former minister. I have never been president or opposition leader of Guyana. No, I am not one from the recognised prestigious social classes. I am no former TV station owner, nor do I own or have friends in the print or electronic media. Madam Chair, I am not deeply connected to the “power brokers” of the land and I’ve never set my eyes on $34 million US dollars. Justice Singh, I am an ordinary person who understands right from wrong. I subscribe to the constitution and the Rule of Law, and I understand how dangerous precedents can ruin an entire nation. I am someone who also likes to speak up for people who either cannot do so for themselves, or are too afraid to speak.

I am not a “billboard name,” as such, I am not sure whether my letter may attract your attention or it may find its way on your reading desk. I am aware that you are a very busy person, however, I do hope that you may still find some time to read my letter. Madam Chair, I’ve decided to write you in the hope that we are better able to put elections 2020 into context and to better understand the serious implications GECOM’s actions may have on future elections.

I do not a recount
Firstly, Madam Chair, I must let you know that I do not endorse, support or encourage any recount of votes of an incomplete electoral process. I firmly believe that any decision to recount votes of the March 2, 2020 elections will be a very dangerous precedent, from which the nation may not easily recover . I also believe that any decision to recount the voters’ votes without first declaring the total votes cast by the principal stakeholders, the people, may amount to a grave insult and disregard for the voters. According to reports, there were declarations for all 10 administrative regions; however, to date there has been no final declaration of those results, but the elections remain on pause because the opposition feels that it was cheated.

The opposition’s feelings, hunch or suspicion seems to take precedence over the legitimate concern of the majority of voters, who stood in lines as early as 4:30 am to cast their votes on March 2, 2020. The concerns of the people matter and I believe that to embark on a decision to recount the people’s votes in this way is unacceptable. I have participated in more than five national election cycles in Guyana and in all of them there were questions about the results declared for specific regions, before final declarations. However, every request for recount for those specific regions were denied by the returning officers and never has there been any attempt by GECOM to override those denials and order recounts, until now. The 1997 elections were the strangest of elections. Those elections were declared for the PPP while Region Four votes (the infamous Region Four) were still being counted and verified; this is not a hunch or fabrication, it is the fact. I am sure you may remember how those elections ended. Despite attempts, in 1997, to legally stop the swearing in of the president, the PPP could not be stopped. In fact, you would recall the then chairman of GECOM congratulating Mrs. Jagan when she threw the court’s order, intended to halt her swearing- in, over her shoulder. I am not suggesting that you should follow suit and disregard the constitution, I am merely attempting to demonstrate that in one of the most glaringly rigged elections GECOM did not put those elections on pause. You would recall that the PNCR had to file an elections petition to deal with those elections. I therefore find it strange that even though the declarations were made for all 10 regions and the Region Four votes were recounted twice, GECOM decided to recount. For some unknown reason, GECOM seems to have surrendered to the bullish tactics of the PPP and their friends and therefore, halted the declaration of the final results of the 2020 elections.

Groundwork was laid
I agree that GECOM did not just did arrive at some decision to recount the peoples’ votes, without more. In fact, there is quite an interesting tale as to how I believe the PPP planned to get GECOM at this point. That plan started long before March 2, 2020. Those of us who have been paying attention to the elections campaign would have discerned a certain pattern and posture by the opposition PPP. Anyone who was paying attention to the political campaigns, specifically the rallies/meetings, could have predicted that we would have arrived at a place like this. During the campaigning stage, I observed the PPP’s rigging tactics on full display. I made no secret about my observations, as I regularly penned those observations in the local print media and social media.

So, how did we get here! For starters, shortly after you were appointed Chairperson of GECOM, the PPP and their known and unknown news outlets and social media operatives began to run an aggressive campaign against GECOM and you. This was an intensified campaign to discredit GECOM and attack the credibility, integrity and competency of its head. The PPP were playing from their rigging script. There were simultaneous attacks carried out on GECOM as the PPP’s mouthpieces seemed to have had a seamless connection to the PPP’s PR strategy. The messages and propaganda against GECOM were identical and well-timed, there was obvious coordination. It appeared that the PPP was making all the preparations necessary to cry foul after the elections are declared for the APNU+AFC. Mr. Jagdeo and others’ regular attacks on GECOM and their outlandish rigging propaganda was all a build up to what is happening today. The PPP were brazen in their rigging plot, in fact, Mr. Jagdeo took it 10 notched higher, when on February 9th he suggested that GECOM would be rigging the elections if it did not declare the elections for the PPP. He went on to threaten that, “they will not take it lightly.” The PPP elections-rigging scheme started long before March 2.

Their strategy had all the hallmarks of the party engaging in an open plot to rig an election. I wrote a letter in the press regarding Mr. Jagdeo’s comments at this rally. I believed then, as I do now, that his remarks might have crossed the line.

Smooth and orderly
Fast forward to March 2nd, Guyanese came out early in many parts of the country and cast their votes. Polling day activities were generally deemed smooth and orderly, except for a few minor hiccups in some places. However, while the Region Four votes were being tabulated the PPP, led by some of their leaders, stormed GECOM and created a ruckus! I watched in horror as these leaders led mobs to kick down the outer door to the building before they bulldozed the chairperson’s office and invaded the space. These videos are making their rounds on social media. The PPP effectively disrupted the counting process then filed an injunction to halt declaration of the Region Four result. This led to a slew of court cases. The PPP continued to bully their way and make outrageous demands upon GECOM. They are bent on ensuring that Mr. Jagdeo’s expectation and demands for GECOM to declare the elections for the PPP must be met, if not, the PPP would claim that the elections were rigged against them. This was the grand plan which was made public during campaign rallies! After the invasion of GECOM, the PPP decided to make its demands and called for recounting of Region Four votes.

The PPP demanded that GECOM must recount the Region Four votes and that GECOM must set aside the earlier declaration for that region. Then having agreed to the recount of the votes of all 10 regions, the PPP suddenly got cold feet and decided that it will revert back to its old position of Region Four vote recount, only. The party then decides that it will push GECOM further as it continues to move the goal post. So, it calls for the dismissal of several GECOM staff members, whom they claim are too toxic to be involved in any recounting of votes. The PPP now says that for any recount to be legitimate the Chief Elections Officer Mr. Lowenfield, his assistant Roxanne Myers, RO Region Four, Mr. Mingo and his deputy and others must be fired or removed from GECOM. They are also engaged in a massive disinformation campaign against GECOM. The recent Lowenfield “156 days” recount calendar is a very good example of how the PPP will continue to attack GECOM and its officers.

Setting the record straight
I am happy that Commissioner Vincent Alexander was quick to set the record straight and denounce the PPP’s disingenuous pronouncements. Should the recount start, GECOM will have to deal with this kind of PPP mischief on a daily basis. The PPP cannot be serious about any recount when they now have gone public and announced that those recounts would be illegal, and maybe they would! They cannot be serious when they have blasted the recount as a “waste of time, and maybe they would be a waste of time!” The PPP cannot be serious about any recount when they continue to move the goal post and attack GECOM each time they conclude a meeting with that body!

The PPP believes that its attacks on GECOM and its chairperson have been effective, so much so that their supporters are creating videos to mimic the chairperson whom they claim is terrified of sanctions and threats. I watched a video posted on social media by two of their followers to mock the chairperson of GECOM. In that video they were laughing about how scared she was when they barged into her office. As I looked at the video, I wondered and posted as a comment, why these folks were not called in by the police for questioning into a situation where they were seemingly admitting to have committed acts to intimidate another person. They also boast of how their propaganda of sanctions against you, Madam Chair would have been effective. I do not believe the PPP is interested in any recount. I believe they are interested in allowing the country to languish in limbo and to have their friends in the international community help them to force new elections upon the nation. I therefore, see any recount at this point, as an attempt by the PPP to get an elections petition through the back door. I do not support any recount, regardless of whether it’s Regions One-10 or Region Six only.

Hence, such a recount has the potential to replace an elections petition in the future, as any political party, after now, may want to use this recount situation as a template to retard democracy and rob the people of their votes. Precedents such as these are likely to have deleterious impacts on the electoral process in the future. I cannot imagine a GECOM in the future that will not be burdened by the negative implications of this forced recount. I do not see how this approach can be in the interest of Guyana. Further, I believe that GECOM’s decision to do a recount would have failed to take into account the human reality. We fail to take into account the negative impact this “non-declaration” will have on particularly young voters who are feeling cheated by GECOM’s decision to stall the declaration. On elections day I was out in the communities as early as 4:00 am and I was very encouraged by the long lines of young people, particularly in South Georgetown, who were in lines to vote at 5:00am. How can we explain this undue delay and breach of process to them? How are we going to ensure that they are motivated to engage in a democratic process to elect a government of their choice, when they are experiencing this unthinkable reality! Many of these youngsters with whom I spoke are first-time voters. What do we say to them? For them, GECOM is succumbing to the PPP’s bullying tactics, to them GECOM has rented out its independence, to them GECOM has failed them.

I differ with GECOM
Madam chairperson, I had confidence in you when you were appointed to chair this most coveted position; today I still have that confidence in you. However, I differ from the direction in which GECOM is going with respect to authorising a recount without a declaration. I strongly believe that this direction will set a very bad precedent that will remain an albatross around the necks of future elections and GECOM. A recount at this juncture will also send the wrong message to bullies, whether those bullies are in schools, in the homes, in the work places, in politics, or in the communities. It will say to them that you can bully your way to achieve your objective. This recount will say to politicians, and political parties that they can bully their way to an elections recount, or a restraint on the declaration of election results. My hope is that you may review the implications of agreeing to a recount under these circumstances.

Bullies, Madam Chairperson, may come in all forms: they can come from inside or outside the country, they can be people with political and social clout, they can be people with no such clout. Madam chair, bullies can also be people who might have deemed themselves fit and proper for your job or persons not deemed fit and proper for the job. Bullies, Madam chair, come in all fashion. Some bullies, Madam Chair, proudly announce that they have never exercised their franchise to vote but yet these bullies decide that they can come to advise those of us who vote on matters of voting. Madam Chair, I regard such bold acts of bullying as an affront to those of us who vote! I subscribe to that long- held view which says “you don’t vote you don’t have a voice!” There are those bullies who also believe that it serves their interest to ensure that the female chairperson of GECOM does not succeed, so that they can continue to make their argument that a woman cannot be put in charge of such a complicated office. I also wrote about this earlier, having noted that the PPP’s attack was also sexist in nature. I therefore believe that if they succeed in pushing this narrative it will make it very difficult for any other woman in the future to be considered, much less nominated, for this most coveted office of Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission.

In closing, I must state that I have no doubt that the APNU+AFC would have won the March 2, 2020 elections. I am convinced that any recount of the 10 regions would reveal more seats for the coalition, than the current declaration would allow. However, because I am against setting dangerous precedents, I do not agree to any recount whatsoever. I, therefore, believe that the coalition would have to file an elections petition in order to get those additional seats.

In the same way, I believe that GECOM must declare current results and allow for the PPP to file an elections petition if it feels aggrieved by the process. Unless this is done, I see any recounting process being shackled by an unending court battle! The recount process is akin to facilitating an elections petition through the backdoor. Madam Chair, you have tried to facilitate the PPP and their outlandish claims; it is more than one month and the PPP continues to move the goal post every time. I do not believe that GECOM can continue in this fashion. I believe it is time to have that final declaration and let the chips fall where they may. No one can fault you for trying! GECOM cannot continue to facilitate the PPP’s delaying tactics while the country is held in abeyance! The ordinary voters matter too! Democracy is not a subjective concept!

Sincerely
Lurlene Nestor