Dear Editor,

AS an objective observer and a concerned Guyanese who is not a registered member of any political party in Guyana, I would say to all Guyanese, regardless of race or political affiliation, that they should never allow what happened in the aftermath of the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections to occur again. Everyone should put the country first, and stand up for what is right and just. The people of Guyana, especially the youths who are 65 per cent of the population, must never again experience such political trauma. What transpired at the Ashmin Building and at GECOM head office on March 4, 5, and 6 by the Returning Election Officer of Region Four and others was reprehensible, scandalous, outrageous and beastly. It was a blatant attempt to steal the elections, in order to remain in power. And those who perpetrated such vicious and thuggish acts and held the nation hostage for five months must face the full force of the law, and should be banished from politics and society. The anguish and grief suffered by many during the five-month ordeal could have long-term consequences on their psyche.

For five months, Guyanese witnessed an election filled with trauma, falsehoods and threats of violence as the government at the time tried to discredit the elections and overturn democracy in the country. In this period, a number of frivolous cases were filed in the courts, and appeals were made all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), but, as was expected, they were all were dismissed or thrown out, thanks to the sound judicial system in Guyana and the CCJ.

Every effort was made by the ruling party at the time to deny victory to the PPP. They did not succeed, thanks to the overwhelming support from ABC and EU countries, CARICOM, the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth of Nations who fought with all their might to make sure that democracy prevails in Guyana. If as stated by the APNU+AFC that they had won the election, then all they had to do was to present their Statements of Poll (SoPs) to the public to support their claim. The PPP, did and its numbers matched those of the recount results. To his day, the Coalition has not made their SoPs public, and they continue to tell their supporters that they had won the election, and that the present government is illegitimate. It shows that they are on Mars and not on Planet Earth. The truth is, the leaders of the Coalition knew that they’d lost the election, but they, like Trump, have refused to concede in order to have a peaceful transfer of power as was the case in 2015 when the APNU+AFC won the election.

The ABC and the European Union diplomats were disgusted and appalled at the Region Four Returning Officer’s barefaced attempt to produce fake and artificial numbers in front of the world, in the advent of social media. He was not wise enough to anticipate the powerful impact of the social media which helped to discredit his hoax. The Western diplomats’ refusal to accept his scam have led to death threats, and a series of scathing and disparaging criticisms on them that were baseless, untruthful and spurious, to say the least. Similar threats and criticisms were made against the chairs of GECOM and CARICOM, the OAS, the Commonwealth of Nations and in particular to the former Prime Ministers of Barbados and Jamaica.

Not even the Justices of the High Court in Guyana and the Caribbean Court of Justice whose rulings were based on the Constitution were spared the threats, criticisms and disparaging remarks. But as the election saga continued, the recount of the votes showed that the PPP had won the election, despite the fictitious, baseless and illegitimate claims put forth by the Coalition. However, the Courts had ruled that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of GECOM was not constitutionally appointed, as was falsely claimed by some, and that the recount of votes, which showed that the PPP had won the elections, were legal and valid. Therefore, the CEO was asked by the Chair of GECOM to issue a report, based on the results of the recount votes. He did not; he presented a report which disqualified 275,000 of the 460,000 or 60 per cent of the votes cast. It was rejected by GECOM.

As if his shameless and crooked action was not enough, the CEO issued a second report, which disqualified 115,000 votes. In both of his reports, he ignored the ruling of Guyana’s Appeals Court, the CCJ and the Chair of GECOM. However, it is important to mention the two false reports were issued by the same CEO of GECOM, who had earlier projected that it will take 156 days to recount the 460,000 votes cast, yet he was able to single-handedly count the same number of votes cast twice in less than seven days. What a moron!

The five-month ordeal has disgraced the citizens, stained the country, and damaged its reputation in the international community, including the CARICOM member states, the Commonwealth of Nations and the OAS. It was silly of the leaders of the Coalition to blame foreign intervention by the ABC and EU diplomats and their concocted claim that the diplomats supported the PPP. The fact is they were too preoccupied with overturning the election and maintaining power to realise that the same ABC and EU countries had supported the democratically-elected APNU+AFC in 2015.

However, the PPP also has to share part of the blame for what transpired during the five months when democracy was threatened in Guyana. For the 23 years the PPP was in office, it did not make any serious attempt to change the structure of the Carter design of GECOM to better represent the interest of the people. The current GECOM structure, which comprises of three commissioners from each of the two main political parties means that the agency would be at an impasse in its decision-making process, given the fact that the commissioners are more likely to represent their party’s interest. After four months in office, the Government should have established a Commission of Inquiry into the 2020 elections. The delay on such an important issue is uncalled for.

Needless to say, the leaders of the Coalition, including the former President, were warned on several occasions by the Western diplomats, especially the U.S., that their actions would result in severe consequences. They did not take the U.S. warnings seriously. As it turned out, they were wrong, as most of them had their U.S. visas revoked, and are barred indefinitely from entering the U.S. It was a costly mistake, and they have learned the hard way. The United States does not bluff.

Yours truly,

Dr. Asquith Rose