Dear Editor,
WHEN experienced foreign diplomats address matters that are considered “internal affairs” of the countries where they are posted, they are very guarded and their utterings reflect the position(s) of their bosses at home.

A few days ago, it was reported that the United Kingdom High Commissioner, Jane Miller, made some remarks relating to the upcoming Local Government Elections. Instantly, there were swift critical responses from some notable friends of the political opposition here. In their mad rush to condemn her they missed the essence of the diplomat’s message…quite conveniently.

Lincoln Lewis (Trade Unionist?), in a letter to the press, suggested that the British diplomat violated “diplomatic expectations.” Lewis has never been known to be “diplomatic,” so can someone familiar with diplomacy please explain what this means.

Vincent Alexander, PNC-seated GECOM Commissioner, for his part, used more sharpened language and pointedly accused the High Commissioner of “interfering in the internal affairs of Guyana.”

GHK Lall, in his usual obtuse manner of writing, suggested something like the President of Guyana should get involved, consider the diplomat’s action as a declaration of war and send her packing.

Just a reminder: Vincent Alexander, Lincoln Lewis and GHK Lall, are all apologists for the PNC and regular critics of the PPP/C government.

A storm in a teacup?
Just what did the High Commissioner say that occasioned such harsh responses? Here are her words as reported: “From what I have heard, I think the list is good enough and I think we just need to make sure that there are those mechanisms in place to make sure it is regularly updated and verified”. So where is the mischief? There in none!

Her Excellency is just repeating what most Guyanese already know. This list is good enough because it was used in the past by the GECOM to hold the 2015 General and Regional Elections (which the APNU+AFC won) and once again in 2020 (when it lost). Apart from the baseless complaints by the now opposition, all and sundry declared the voting to be free and fair.

The most important aspect of what the High Commissioner said is being downplayed by her detractors who just zeroed in on the list being “good enough”. She emphasised the need for verification mechanisms to be in place.

She again fortified this point by stating: “Anywhere in the world, you got to make sure your voters list is regularly updated and that is what’s happening here so always the people who have died and people who moved out the country or whatever, you need to make sure it’s regularly updated and that’s the most important thing,”.

She added: “There are mechanisms in place on the day of voting to make sure that people are turning up only once and that they have identification that is on that list.”

The envoy expressed some concerns about a new house-to-house registration at this time, noting: “It makes it very complicated, so going back doing door-to-door, you would miss out the people that have moved overseas maybe just for a few months, maybe a few weeks, maybe they have gone for a year. They are still eligible voters, so that worries me,”

Vincent Alexander, a GECOM Commissioner, must feel proud that the British Government recognises that Guyana has in place robust verification systems in its electoral practices to make it impossible for malpractices. This is a far cry from the blatant electoral rigging in the past, for which this country had become notorious.

It would not be surprising if, in the coming days, other major western powers (ABC) express similar views.

Yours truly,
Anson Paul