By: SASE Singh; M.Sc. – Finance, ACCA.
In the last column, I was able to show how the singular responsibility for the delays in the appointment of the GECOM Chairman rests with Mr Granger. It is his job, as the caretaker President, to shine the leading light on the process in a transparent manner. That column can be found here: https://guyanatimesgy.com/granger-fools-the-nation-yet-again/
But what we have been observing from Mr Granger is that he is on a mission to deceive this nation. Under the tutelage of the CCJ, Guyana was able to bring to life the intent of our Constitution in a LOGOS framework. We saw with reason, logic, or common sense, how the Constitution drives consensualism rather than unilateralism. Therefore, we must appreciate Mr Bharat Jagdeo for his endurance during this process, although it is populated with one-upmanship and pettiness on the part of Mr Granger. Observing Mr Granger is like watching Peter Such— the right-arm spin bowler, who in 1999 broke the record for staying at the crease longest but still earning a “DUCK” for himself. But we must patient and persevere.
The fact remains there is no shortage of credible Guyanese to serve at GECOM. The real shortage exists in the PNC. That party lacks the political will to do the right thing. They want their partisan man at GECOM to derive a partisan outcome to deny the people their human rights.
Mr Granger, in a speech to the nation immediately after the reading of the consequential orders of the CCJ, said: “I have committed since the 21st of December, 2018 to the holding of free and fair elections”. Does this statement from Mr Granger reconcile with reality? What we have seen since that statement is little progress, all because of Mr Granger’s subterfuge and ruse. Mr Granger personally injected a grave amount of mistrust into the negotiations to the point that Mr Jagdeo had no choice but to label him as someone close to a prevaricator.
After several days of talks, the parties now agree to four of six names causing some in the diplomatic community to conclude that these talks ended are progressing on a positive note. But this is far from accurate since this entire process is all about that final name. Mr Granger is all about giving Mr Jagdeo five names and then is when you will see who the real Mr Granger is. His game plan is to control the elections process from conception to resurrection. These are all tactics to deny the Leader of the Opposition his role and also to rub the Constitution into the mud. We must never allow Mr Granger to do this.
Was it not Mr Granger who spoke to the nation immediately after the passage of the No-Confidence Motion and promised them that he shall follow the letter and spirit of the Constitution? In layman’s language, this translated to him calling elections before March 21, 2019. But he immediately switched to his alter-ego “David 2” and then quashed that promise and went “gung ho” into a process to interpret what every common entrance student knows— that 33 is greater than 32.
This nation accepted his argument that it needs is final clarity as to what is the intent of the Constitution. However, when that clarification was offered on June 18, 2019, Mr Granger then changed his tune. David 1 says that “credible elections are essential to representative democracy”. But then David 2 retorts that “Mr Jagdeo is not operating in good faith”.
To evaluate the tricks, on one hand, Mr Granger dares to declare that it is “his hope that the two sides would have been able to meet and hammer out the list of six nominees” in compliance with Article 161 of the Constitution and the CCJ guidelines. But on the other hand, he put forward eight names of persons who are politically partisan. Mr Granger then has the effrontery to then spin the truth and endeavour to blame Mr Jagdeo for the state of affairs at GECOM.
The only player with the power to move this entire process forward remains Mr Granger; that is where the buck stops. Thus, this determined effort to sidestep this matter and push the responsibility for doing the right thing to everyone’s desk is DANGEROUSLY EVIL.
So what do we do at this interesting juncture of our history? The people in their numbers must support peaceful street demonstrations against these corrupt and incompetent people who are operating like kleptocrats. This Granger gang is deliberately shifting the governance paradigm from one that was supposed to be inclusive and consensual to one that is unilateral. That must be opposed and exposed.
As Team Granger marches to the music of unilateralism, this local effort has to be supported by the friends of freedom in the diaspora who must lobby the international community (in particular the USA) for direct economic sanctions to be applied after September 18, 2019 to a regime that is prepared to move from a caretaker status to an illegitimate status.
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