Granger and PNC must concede and let the nation breathe again

Dear Editor,
As the much-anticipated decision of the CCJ is rendered today, we ask Mr Granger to keep his word this once and let the nation breathe again. We know Mr Granger has not kept his word about anything so far, he thinks the provisions of the Constitution or court decisions are mere suggestions, and he has never honoured any timelines concerning the holding of elections or swearing-in of a new Parliament and Government. In the no-confidence vote case, Mr Granger did not honour the ruling of the CCJ to hold elections in 90 days. The nation, local and foreign observers and the international community have repeatedly called on Mr Granger to do the right thing and expect that he will abide by the decision of the CCJ today and GECOM’s decision soon after. It’s not a good situation for Mr Granger and the PNC to be pitted against the entire world.
To be clear, whatever way the CCJ rules today, it is up to the GECOM Chair to move the process forward and declare the results based on the recount numbers, with or without the cooperation of Mr Lowenfield, who seems to still be dodging court marshals trying to serve warrants on private criminal actions filed against him for election fraud.
In polite society, such as the USA, some candidates would concede based on exit polls or even with a 10 per cent declaration of results. In Guyana, despite an intensive well-observed Caricom recount and clear evidence that his party lost to the PPP by 15,000 votes, Mr Granger and party are refusing to demit office. PNC demonstrations against the CCJ, public “buseing” of all who say the recount was fair and valid and should be used to declare the PPP as the winner, and street demonstrations that Mr Lowenfield discharged his duties honourably, are not helpful to the image of the PNC. The PNC has done well in the March 2020 elections, winning 31 seats and would be in a formidable position in Parliament. If the PNC reforms itself from the lessons learned, who knows, it can win again in 2025. Guyana is now in a “vote them in, vote them out” stage of political development. No party will be allowed to take the people for granted again.
Unless the PNC is going for broke and total self-destruction, its current antics are doing irreparable harm. It is demonstrating quite forcefully that it is not a party with honesty, decency and integrity, and that it is not a suitable partner for any future power-sharing. My fellow Guyanese, which of you think that given the PNC’s history and bullying behaviour since the Government fell in December 2018, that the PNC is a good candidate for power-sharing? How can you share power with a party that thinks as Macbeth’s witches, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” Or to use a Bible reference, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). I think there are also many woes for all those church leaders who have refused to make a public statement that the Government needs to respect the will of the voters who have chosen Dr Irfaan Ali/Mark Phillips and the PPP to run the country for the next 5 years. Instead of speaking the truth, these misguided church leaders have empowered the PNC to continue on its current track, uttering prayers for some kind of divine miracle of fraud that would keep the PNC in power. This election has really revealed who some people really are in their hearts.
So Mr Granger, let’s see if you would keep your word to respect the decision of GECOM as it declares the results. Please don’t let history say you were the worst President of Guyana, even worse than Burnham and Hoyte, the original founder riggers. Already, some people are calling you, “Rigadier” and that’s not a nice title. So please do the right thing, Mr Granger!

Sincerely,
Jerry Singh