“Clear rules for the game” needed to protect “fragile” democracies – French Ambassador

With the democracy of several countries within the region coming under threat, and in light of Guyana’s own experience of such during the 2020 elections, France believes rigorous systems must be put in place to ensure political peace and stability prevails.

During a recent interview with Guyana Times, Non-Resident Ambassador of France to Guyana, Nicolas de Lacoste, who is stationed in neighbouring Suriname, reflected on the recent political unrest which saw protestors storming Suriname’s National Assembly.
Reports indicate that the protest in Suriname stemmed from that Government’s decision to remove subsidies from fuel.
It has been reported that Police were forced to use tear gas and fire warning shots in a bid to calm the riotous crowd. In fact, the lobby of the National Assembly, along with the glass windows and doors, were destroyed. The protestors had also demanded the resignation of President Chandrikapersad Santokhi.
Noting that the situation is now back to normal, the French Ambassador nevertheless expressed, “All the democratic institutions have to be defended by all means…You don’t attack, you don’t vandalise, the National Assembly; you have to take measures to defend democracy.”
Earlier this year, just one week after the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as President of Brazil, thousands of supporters of the previous incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, had stormed that country’s Congress, Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace.
“We know quite well how fragile is democracy…the only thing you can do is dialogue. It’s having elections that nobody contests them [the results]; make sure your electoral code is in line with electoral practices…,” Ambassador de Lacoste said.
“Everybody has to learn. And remember, what we have today, in a very short period of time, all this wellness can disappear. And it’s a little bit frightening, because, for instance, in Europe, we now have our elections, but we are following elections in (neighbouring countries)…
“We are all interdependent, and we all know how fragile is democracy. We’ve seen as well what happened in the United States…No country is vaccinated to any kind of turbulences.”
Guyana’s most recent instance of democracy being under threat was in 2020, when blatant attempts were made to alter the results of the national elections. At the time, France had issued a statement expressing its deep concern regarding the situation, and had called for the legitimate and democratically accepted process of vote tabulation to be followed.
Following the five-month-long battle for the will of the people to be respected, Dr Irfaan Ali was, on August 2, 2020, finally sworn in as President. His administration has since embarked on a number of initiatives aimed at ensuring the events of 2020 are not repeated. These include updating and strengthening the electoral laws to ensure, among other things, stiffer penalties for those who partake in electoral fraud. Moreover, a Commission of Inquiry into those events is soon to submit its findings, which would include further recommendations on how to strengthen the electoral process.
When asked to weigh in on the work the Government has been doing in this regard, this is what the French Ambassador explained: “The most important is to have clear rules for the game, and to have the best of possible electoral codes. I think this is the best way to ensure stability: to ensure that when you have elections, nobody afterwards (is contesting the results); that you have a flow from team to another without any kind of turbulences.”