Alert: Granger administration is talking-up rule of law & civil rights

Dear Editor,
An administration truly and firmly rooted in these principles would scarcely have need to make repeated assertions of their commitment to these tenets; it should be self-evident.
So when these avowals are once again adorned centre stage in a national address, one has to ask what’s afoot.
Each incremental undemocratic and dictatorial reset of the country towards autocratic rule has been accompanied by loud utterances of respect for the rule of law and civil rights – as again occurred on Friday when the President used the national podium to prime the country.
A similar device was also deployed in the preparation to contravene the Carter Formula and unilaterally appoint retired Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman in October 2017. At that time, the country was prepped and the unilateral action sanitised with the “Fit and Proper” dressing down – none of the 18 prominent Guyanese nominees on the three lists were fit and proper, according to Granger.
Patterson’s installation compromised the independent nature of the National Secretariat and the institution’s mandate which was enshrined in the Constitution in order to guarantee Guyanese free and fair elections.
The intention and consequence of Granger’s unilateral imposition are now glaringly clear. GECOM has been effectively stymied from discharging its duties on behalf of all Guyanese. Instead of implementing a plan for elections in the timeframe required by law, the GECOM administration has been complicit in the administration’s delaying tactics. It has acted as a tool of the administration even while Granger seeks refuge in the subterfuge that the GECOM administration is acting independently in an arm’s length relationship.
The Granger administration have brought Guyana to a dangerous crossroad. They have wasted three months with duplicitous delaying tactics and absurd court challenges (the logic of which, if applied equally to GECOM resolutions, would require 5 of the 7 votes to carry). Now, at the last moment, they are in a scramble.
The country crosses the official threshold of being a pariah among nations with an illegal government If Granger does not act by this coming Thursday. International pressure is mounting. Countries which continue to deal with Guyana on an ‘as usual’ basis risk damage to their own reputation.
Granger’s law and order mantra is not only wearing thin, it has become a precursor for the staging of autocratic actions. Be alert.

Sincerely,
Ron Cheong