Global support of our constitutional rights

Dear Editor,
Chairman Justice (ret’d) James Patterson seems to shamelessly dance to the beat of the People’s National Congress Reform’s (PNC/R) drums while defying the Constitution. In 2015, the APNU/AFC coalition Government took the issue concerning the life of the voters’ list to Parliament.
They placed into law that Continuous Registration will be an ongoing process, followed with Claims and Objections as the updating mechanism for the voters’ list to be ready for elections during any six months.
The delaying tactics now will not be able to stop the people in our country from demanding Regional and National Elections before the end of March 2019.
I join the international call for the global support of our constitutional rights. We demand the immediate isolation of this fraudulent, illegal APNU/AFC regime based on the colossal corruption and glaring violations of United Nations standards of acceptable human rights that are taking place under this Government.
The Guyanese nation calls for immediate and necessary intervention against this vulgar wrongdoing of this regime.
It is encouraging to read that President Granger is now coming around to understanding the importance of our country’s Constitution. However, even as he belatedly calls on GECOM to prepare for Regional and National Elections, there exists a deepened level of national distrust, given the tried and proven hypocrisy that usually emerges from his clan. It leaves one to wonder about the basis of Granger’s system of governing.
We recall that in 2017, Granger hurriedly appointed and swore in ‘pensioner’ Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Election Commission on Deepavali day. This happened to be one of the most auspicious and signature days on the Hindu religious calendar. Heaven knows why he is proposing to reach the Leader of the Opposition on ‘Ash’ Wednesday, March 06, 2019.
Given that, the political calendar is respected and not punctuated by the amount of days, but by the ‘events’ that take place on particular ‘dates’; Ash Wednesday is recognised as one of the most significant days on the Christian calendar, which signals commencement of preparation by our Christian brothers and sisters for the ‘holy’ period of ‘lent’. It is a time when our people are cleansing themselves from all evils with no use of alcohol, meat, and wrongdoings. Selecting this date is certainly disrespectful to some Guyanese, or maybe a call for pious intervention.
March 6 is also the death anniversary of the Founder of the PPP, Dr Cheddi Jagan and the death anniversary of one of our country’s ‘heroine’ Kowselar. Maybe President Granger Makes his decisions based on significant dates.
Notwithstanding, GECOM must do one or both of the following:
1. Conduct a short Claims and Objections period so as to further sanitise the voters’ list and prepare immediately for elections.
Or
2. Have a short period of continuous registration along with a period of Claims and Objection for early elections.
The bottom line is that we must have elections when the voters’ list is valid!

Sincerely,
Neil Kumar