‘Democracy under threat in Guyana’

– PPP UK branch

The United Kingdom Branch of the People’s Progressive Party has joined with other pro-democracy activists in Guyana and the international community in condemning President David Granger’s decision to unilaterally appoint a Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
In an unprecedented move, President Granger abandoned the Carter/Price Formula that was implemented for the 1992 elections. In that formula, the President would appoint a Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission from a list submitted by the Leader of the Opposition.
“We therefore call upon the Carter Center and other advocates who are committed to democracy to raise their voices and call upon President Granger to rescind his appointment and to appoint a Chairman from the three lists submitted by the Leader of the Opposition, as required by the Guyana Constitution,” the PPP UK Group said in a statement.
“We also note that President Granger foisted his interpretation of the Constitution on the people of Guyana, rather than adhering to the decision handed down by the Chief Justice (ag),” the statement added.
The correspondence said the PPP UK Branch can recall the difficult struggles waged over 28 years to restore democracy in Guyana. ‘We recall the years of election rigging, which are well documented by the three Granada TV documentaries shown on the UK ‘World in Action’ series.”
The missive noted that by the time democracy was restored in 1992, the economy was destroyed and Guyana was then deemed as the poorest country in the western hemisphere. It noted that “under the leadership of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Guyana became (classified as) a middle income country”.
“There is no way we are going backwards. We call on the Guyanese diaspora to stand with the PPP in its struggle to reverse President Granger’s decision. We stand ready with the Guyana Bar Association and other forces in launching a legal challenge to overturn this decision and to ensure that we do not return to the dark days of dictatorship.”
The PPP UK Group said it would continue to engage political parties and relevant international organisations based in the UK to ensure the next elections in Guyana, to be held in 2020, are free, fair, and transparent.