Dear Editor,
This letter is written with the sole intention of enlightening the stubborn party loyalists of the APNU+AFC and those Guyanese who repeat the ill-advised talking points of the aforementioned faction. The APNU/AFC have long seen the writing on the wall; since March 2nd, 2020, the numbers have been cemented in their brains, and it shows they have lost these elections.
Nevertheless, 22 days have passed and there is no official result.
Meanwhile, the Guyanese people have observed blatant attempts by APNU at stealing this election. These acts have been categorically denounced by not just the PPP/C, but by six new parties, local observers, and most importantly varying independent foreign observer groups inclusive of the OAS, Commonwealth, EU, and the Carter Center.
As a redress, APNU have sought to change the public narrative and peddle uncreative lies. Tragically, many persons, even some who are deemed “intellectuals”, have adopted the “Guyana is a sovereign nation”, “We are independent, y’all only want we oil!”, “We don’t need any outsiders in we business” lines. These defenses are used in woeful ignorance to counteract the strong messages emanating specifically from these foreign observer groups.
Fellow Guyanese, permit me to give you a succinct history lesson that is evidently needed to cease this descent into mediocrity.
After the 1985 elections — another one rigged by the PNC — the PPP, WPA and three other small parties formed an alliance known as the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD). Collectively, they pushed for an independent Elections Commission; counting of ballots at the place of poll; and, importantly, the presence of international observers. The alliance lobbied western governments, and international partners in the USA, UK, Canada and CariCom to pressure the PNC administration to heed their request for electoral reform geared at free and fair elections.
Yes, this was done without a 34-million-dollar contract to Mercury.
Then President, Hoyte strongly resisted the calls for foreign observers to be present, describing them as interferers and meddlers. Does this ring a bell? This was the same argument held by the “Lord of the Rigs” – Forbes Burnham.
Nevertheless, after much lobbying, in 1990, the US State Department, subsequently Democratic Members of Congress, and six senators requested that the Secretary of State’s US aid to Guyana be attached to FREE and FAIR Elections. Later that year, the US withheld US$600,000 from Guyana in order to pressure the Hoyte administration into facilitating structural changes in the country’s electoral systems.
It was with such international economic pressure and astute negotiation by world leaders such as (US) President Carter, all promulgated by Cheddi Jagan and the PCD, that Guyana saw its first free and fair elections in 1992.
The year is now 2020, and the signals and messages of our international partners are clear: Sanctions will come once a government is sworn in on the basis of these non-credible results.
Will we risk losing the much-needed international aid just to support an undemocratic cabal? Will we risk losing out on the magnanimous benefits of our oil resources for our generation and the next?
Fellow Guyanese, do not stifle your consciences, and I plead with you to not reject the help of our international brothers and sisters. For without them Guyana’s fragile democracy could once again be hijacked and demolished by the execrable PNC regime.
Stand on the right side of history, speak out against electoral fraud.
Yours truly,
John Edghill
