SIR Walter Scott, way back in 1808 famously wrote: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive.”[sic] What is implied by that statement is that when someone lies or acts dishonestly, he or she is initiating a problem and a domino structure of complications which eventually could spiral out of control.

The context in which Sir Walter Scott wrote over 200 years ago in his epic poem, “Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field,” might not be the same, but it continues to have relevance and was, in fact, used earlier by William Shakespeare in his work, “Macbeth,” to portray the dangers of being led astray by ambition and the lust for power.

Sadly, we do have in our society some people who would do anything to obtain power, even if it means sacrificing truth on the altar of political expediency and ambition. Take for example the shameless and ludicrous position taken by the APNU+AFC coalition that it was “cheated” out of office in the March 2020 elections. And this, despite the fact that the election results were declared free and fair by local and international observers. The CARICOM team which supervised the recount of the votes, in its report, concluded that the APNU+AFC coalition had embarked on a “fishing expedition” with its claims.

There remain strong allegations that it was the APNU+AFC, in collaboration with rogue elements from the GECOM Secretariat, that attempted to manipulate the results of the elections after it became obvious that the PPP/C was well-positioned to emerge victorious at the polls.

Statements of poll appeared to be mysteriously concocted and submitted to show an APNU+AFC “victory.” It was deception at its best, but in the end, the truth prevailed and the PPP/C was declared the winner of the elections by a comfortable majority.

Now that the elections dust has settled, the Guyana Elections Commission is now being requested to release documents submitted by the APNU+AFC to GECOM, to “substantiate” evidence of voting irregularities.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., had dispatched a letter to the GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, requesting copies of the documents submitted by the APNU+AFC and other statutory agencies in support of the “fraudulent” allegations made regarding voting “irregularities” made by the now political opposition.

Mr Nandlall, in his letter to the GECOM Chair, said the allegations “continue to be peddled in the public domain by leaders and representatives of the aforesaid political entity. At the time and until now, the impression conveyed is that these documents and/or data were generated by, and obtained from the official lawful repository of the specific information, for example the immigration department, the Guyana Police Force and the General Registrar’s Office.”

No individual or institution is above the law and therefore must be held accountable for their actions. This is all the more necessary when there is strong enough evidence to suggest that some governmental agencies might have been complicit in attempts to subvert the will of the Guyanese electorate in the last general and regional elections.

It will be recalled that there were claims by the APNU+AFC coalition that persons who were not in Guyana on polling day had voted and that “dead” persons had voted, among other absurdities. Interestingly, the immigration authorities gave credence to such falsities by “confirming” that 172 of the persons enquired about by the GECOM Chair were not in the country on elections day.

These are matters of grave national importance that must not, as it were, be swept under the carpet. In this regard, the decision by GECOM to release the documents presented to it by the APNU+AFC is a step in the right direction in terms of transparency, accountability and the overall integrity of the electoral processes.

The three members representing the opposition APNU+AFC, for reasons best known to themselves, voted against the release of the documents.
Action, it is said, speaks louder than words and the action of the opposition-nominated members of the commission to block the release of the requested documents is deserving of an explanation, given what transpired during the tabulation process and the negative impact they had on our image as a democratic country.

The final declaration of the results took an inordinately long time and not without much electoral drama unknown in the Anglophone Caribbean.
The Guyana Elections Commission has a responsibility to the Guyanese and international community to come clean on what actually transpired during the tabulation period of the March 2, 2020 poll, to set the records straight and to prevent any such disgraceful recurrence.