In a bid to curb fears that rigged elections may return, President David Granger confronted the issue on Friday, during his first press conference in two years, saying that he has never rigged an election in his life.
Granger was at the time responding to questions from the local press as to whether he would follow in the ideals of the late President Forbes Burnham, who is
President David Granger
accused of rigging elections. Granger said whenever he talks about the late President, he would place emphasis on the work he did to improve education and other areas.
“I’ve never rigged an election in my life. I have no intention of ever doing so. Whenever I spoke of Burnham, I spoke of the ideas which he implanted in the party that he founded, the People’s National Congress.”
He noted that a comparison of Guyana in 1964 with Guyana in 1974 would show that “enormous strides” were made. The President said that rigging elections have no bearing on anything he has said or intends to do.
It is being widely discussed that the move made by President David Granger, which brings back memories of the Burnham era, was the unilateral appointment of a Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) chairman, Justice James Patterson.
There have also been widespread criticisms over Government forming an entire ministry to deal specifically with the registration of births and deaths. The Opposition has vehemently claimed this may be a strategy to pad the voters list at the next General Elections, which is due to take place in 2020.
During a press conference, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo told media operatives that what had transpired over the appointment of the GECOM Chairman has lead the party to now have distrust for the list of voters.
According to Jagdeo, the PPP harbours concerns about the database at GECOM. The Opposition Leader, in pointing to his party’s belief that Government is setting the stage to rig the 2020 elections, pointed to fears over the potential tampering of birth certificates at the Ministry of Citizenship, headed by Minister Winston Felix.
“We are training our polling agents already,” he disclosed, as the party prepares to ensure that votes cannot be stolen at the level of the polling place.
Speaking to media operatives on the matter, the former President had pointed out the furor that has been sparked across the country’s civil society organisations, the private sector, religious leaders and individuals, who spoke out against the appointment.
In addition to all this, Granger has long been accused by the PPP of having participated in vote rigging during the Burnham era. Retiring with the rank of Brigadier General, Granger commanded the Guyana Defence Force from 1979, and was a top military figure during the Burnham Presidency.
