Enough is enough – go away PNC, you are a blight on this nation

Another election petition has been thrown out. The PNC (APNU/AFC) resorted to thuggery and bullyism, threatening, as Hoyte’s PNC did in “slow fyah, mo fyah”, that they cannot be held responsible for the actions of those who feel disenfranchised. Joe Harmon, speaking as Leader of the Opposition, stated ominously that “all options are open”. In all of this, they still refuse to present their copies of the Statements of Poll (SOP) to show they had won, as they claimed.
Those poor supporters, the handful of them they could have persuaded to protest, were out in the streets, putting their lives at risk to COVID-19 because the PNC leaders told them they had won the March 2020 elections. One would have expected that the PNC leaders, together with their poodles in the AFC and WPA and those other one-man political parties, would prove to their supporters that they had won by producing the SOPs. Where are those SOPs? Why is the PNC so scared to show people the SOPs? The big question is have other APNU and AFC leaders ever seen those SOPs?
The Chief Justice on Monday threw out the second election petition filed by APNU/AFC. The Chief Justice had already thrown out another petition filed by APNU/AFC. When the Chief Justice threw out the first petition, APNU/AFC appealed that decision. Now, after the decision was handed down on Monday, rejecting the petition, APNU/AFC had a small band of its supporters protesting in Georgetown, trying to close down the business area, trying to create mayhem in the streets of Georgetown.
Most of those in the small group of protesters had no mask on, flouting the public health measures in place to stop COVID-19. It was reckless, even though it was also comedic. The court’s decision was not surprising, it was actually expected by all, since there was no merit to the petition. But the response from the PNC (APNU/AFC) was also not surprising. We all expected that they would try their best to create mayhem in the streets.
The petition was based on the PNC’s claim that the recount order was unconstitutional. David Granger himself, signing as President and Leader of the APNU/AFC Coalition, had signed the order, known as Order 60, mandating a total recount. After Mingo’s fake spreadsheet tried to discount the authentic SOPs for Region 4, it was Granger himself who agreed to a recount of the Region 4 ballot boxes. But APNU/AFC reneged on that agreement and demanded a total recount.
They tried their best to rig that recount also by trying to remove ballots from being counted, claiming dead people and phantoms voted in the ballot boxes. Failing to change the numbers in the recount, they then tried throwing out the election by claiming the constitution did not permit any recount.
The Chief Justice has stood tall. Joseph Harmon, as Leader of the Opposition, has rejected the ruling of the Chief Justice, the same one he praised last week when she ruled that two PPP parliamentary secretaries were improperly appointed. Now the same Harmon is denouncing the Chief Justice, demonising her, claiming that she is in effect a puppet of the PPP.
Granger/Harmon and APNU/AFC have the right to appeal. It would be a waste of the court’s time, but they have the right to appeal the decision. The right they do not have is the right to create mayhem in the streets of Georgetown or anywhere else in Guyana. Enough is enough. The PNC, Granger, Harmon, and the rest of the APNU/AFC must not be permitted to hold Guyana under siege. Instead of threatening violence and mayhem, they should now focus on doing the job the people of Guyana have elected them to do – act as a legitimate and effective parliamentary Opposition. Thus far, they have failed as an Opposition party. Thus far, they rank as Guyana’s worst Opposition party.
The ominous warning from Harmon that “all options are open” is another way of stating what Desmond Hoyte threatened in 1997: “slow fyah, mo fyah”. Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking as the Leader of the PPP, was in no mood to tolerate the threat. He called on the Police to ensure that law and order are maintained. The Police must not allow mayhem in the streets of Georgetown or anywhere else. The Police must act decisively and condignly.
People have a right to peaceful protest.
We must defend that right, whether we agree with the protesters or not. But right now, all COVID-19 rules must be adhered to. Peaceful protest must be like the protests the PPP conducted when the PNC were trying to thief the elections. No one molested anybody. No one blocked streets and roads. No property was damaged.
In the coming days, anyone not protesting peacefully must be arrested and charged. In the coming days, anyone blocking streets and roads must be arrested and charged. The Police must not tolerate nonsense from the PNC any longer. Guyana has had enough. Enough is enough.