Dear Editor,

I AM revisiting a very detailed letter, “It is time for former President, David Granger, to come out of hiding,” (Kit Nascimento, Feb 13, 2021. KaiNews) as I want to establish the kind of character this David Granger has become, or maybe, this was how he has always been.
Let us remember that Kit Nascimento was right in the centre of the People’s National Congress (PNC) since time immemorial, so he is speaking from a very intimate position. I mean he knows what he is saying. In the letter, it was pointed out that former President, David Granger, was still refusing to acknowledge the results of the March 2 elections, even though, during the post March 02 saga, he made the claim repeatedly that “as President of Guyana and leader of the government, it is my policy that any declaration which comes from the Chairman of GECOM would be recognised by the Coalition government.” So, what is happening even now?

I ask this question in the light of the April 26 court ruling, in which the opposition APNU+AFC (A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change) emphatically lost its bid to invalidate the national recount of ballots, which was undertaken by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) following last year’s contentious general and regional elections. I add that the actual GECOM work, which was disrupted by Granger and his lackeys, would have culminated in a declaration, and there would have been no reason for a recount.
The acting Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire SC, dismissed the petition filed on behalf of the Coalition, ruling that both Section 22 of the Election Laws Amendment Act (ELAA), and Order 60 which facilitated the recount, are well within the ambit of the Constitution, and therefore lawful. She made it clear that GECOM was empowered to conduct the recount. By the way, the said recount was to aid and abet APNU+AFC’s delay of the inevitable, that is, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C’s) victory.
So, what now and next? I guess it’s the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Why do I say this?

Well Mr. Editor, Granger’s anthem has never changed. He has always been with the tune of ‘submit to the rule of law’ and yet, he keeps flouting the Constitution — opposing the no-confidence motion, and then, when this was passed by the CCJ, acting as though the government was still in normal mode; appointing (rtd.) Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman (CCJ overturned this as well); departing from due legal processes with respect to the tabulation of Statements of Polls (SoPs) which led to the recount; desperately seeking to thwart the declaration generated by the recount; and now finally, challenging the recount (which I assume will be dealt a final blow if he goes to the CCJ).

From this kind of record, what must I make of David Granger? My answer is that he needs professional help. He is far removed from reality.
In modern psychology, ‘denialism’ refers to a person’s (deliberate and willful) choice to deny reality. This is a reaction to seek to counter or avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth. Denialism is medically described as “… an essentially irrational action that withholds the validation of a historical experience or event, when a person refuses to accept an empirically verifiable reality.” March 2, 2020 elections qualify for this “validation of a historical experience or event” that was an “empirically verifiable reality”.
My forementioned list of Granger’s denial and outright refusal of reality proves my case.
What has happened in all likelihood is that so entrenched is Granger in his failure to accept and reconcile himself to actualities has now led to his decline, to the point he is a victim of his self-created denial.

David Granger has now indeed chalked up a most vitiated history and besmirched profile: ‘over and over and over ad infinitum,’ he keeps saying that he’s innocent of his party’s brazen many attempts to rig the 2020 Guyana Elections, starting from the Statements of Polls for District Four by Clairmont Mingo, which was aided and abetted by Keith Lowenfield and Roxanne Myers.
In a recent APNU+AFC Live Programme, Public Interest, on April 23, Granger noted that his absence from the public eye was because he was busy doing groundwork and had to review what happened in 2020 in order to move ahead. The world knows what happened and final pronouncements have been made. So, what is it with him?
Granger is in the clouds. He was saying on the programme that he believes other parties will join the Coalition and the APNU+AFC is going to expand. He even posited that the Coalition is the only party in Parliament that offers equality in terms of representation. The semblance of a protest following the CJ’s ruling hopefully will send a ‘wake up’ message that ANU+AFC will soon become inconsequential. What Granger, Harmon and the APNU+AFC overall should do is to officially recognise and accept the PPP/C as the legitimate government and seek a refacing.

Yours truly,

Attiya Baksh