Dear Editor,
Please permit me space in your newspaper to comment on David Hinds’ latest article published on April 19, 2020.
After several weeks of ridiculous comments and opinions by Mr Hinds in relation to the election and the PPP/C party, he sought a change in tone in this latest rambling where he sought to invoke African traditions and our ancestral struggles to justify his position. What Mr Hinds is attempting to justify is that – in his words – “we should be willing to sacrifice democracy to save Guyana”. He is also stating that whilst most of us are focusing on what occurred in the days following the close of polls on March 2, 2020, he is looking beyond that.
First of all, I would like to ask Mr Hinds where was this same zeal in 2015, when the coalition won by the narrowest margin in the country’s history? Didn’t he believe that was the perfect time for the Unity Government he now advocates for, so opportunistically?
What occurred, election rigging, the blatant attempt at election rigging cannot be ignored. The fraudulent declarations of the results for Region Four that were made on March 5, 2020, and March 13, 2020, were done in full view of the global community. It is also the events of the days after March 2, 2020, that served as the precursor to all that has taken place since then and that has us all in this current situation.
The vote of an individual is sacrosanct. It should not be so flippantly discarded in the way Mr Hinds seems to support. The people of Guyana chose a party that ran on issues, policies and track record against one that seeks to promote a broken leader and a lack of vision. Mr Hinds is now asking these people to give up what they voted for because people associated with the coalition he campaigned for have placed us all in a tenuous position.
He would have us reward them for this? This seems to be his agenda.
In democracies all around the world, the losing candidate, in an effort to heal a nation that might have been divided during a vigorous election campaign, graciously concedes defeat and works to ensure there is a smooth transition of power. That is called doing the patriotic thing. If David Granger had done that on March 3, when all the parties knew the results of the March 2020 elections, the events that unfolded would have never occurred.
Mr Hinds, instead of seeking to reward the coalition for subverting the will of the people, should be calling upon them to do the right thing.
Since Mr Hinds invoked our African traditions, I wish to draw to his attention three clauses contained in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance:
We the Member States of the African Union are:
? Committed to promote the universal values and principles of democracy, good governance, human rights and the right to development.
? Seeking to entrench in the Constitution a political culture of change of power based on the holding of regular, free, fair, and transparent elections conducted by competent, independent and impartial national electoral bodies.
? Convinced of the need to enhance the election observation missions in the role they play, particularly as they are an important contributory factor to ensuring the regularity, transparency and credibility of elections.
There are nine more clauses, but I believe those three are quite apt to our current situation and would serve David Hinds and members of the coalition well to adopt. If we adopt what Mr Hinds desires, we are basically removing the people from having any say in the governing of the country and vesting power into a limited view. Mr Hinds, our ancestors did not fight and die for that.
Yours truly,
S Greaves
