Granger’s plan was to ensure that the courts and GECOM do his bidding

Dear Editor,
Let not Guyanese be deceived; Granger is the leader of the Burnhamite faction that is resurrecting old tricks and creating new ones to rig the 2020 Elections!
It should be instructive to recall that the first ploy Granger used was to surround himself with retired military colleagues and other security persons, who would be effectively used to prepare a foundation and prop for his dictatorship rule. After that, he methodically used the courts and GECOM.
Granger’s plan was to ensure that the courts and GECOM would do his bidding. It should be recalled that the PNC flag, not the Guyana flag, flew above the High Court during Burnham’s 28 years of dictatorship rule, and his selected appointments and national awards ensured that ‘justice’ would be dispensed in his favour at the right time by the right persons.
That soon came with the unilateral and illegal appointment of Justice Patterson, and the No Confidence Motion which had to be taken as far as the CCJ. Everyone at home and abroad knew that Chief Justice Roxanne George Wiltshire’s judgment was correct, yet the Court of Appeal headed by Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards, supported by Justice Dawn Gregory, overturned that legally correct decision.
Then we shockingly witnessed the Region 4 counting fiasco engineered by Granger’s Gang, which again ended up in the courts. This time Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire ruled that there had been substantial non-compliance by the Returning Officer of Region 4, Clairmont Mingo, in his purported declaration of that Region’s results, and the results were made null and void and of no effect. She also ordered that GECOM cannot declare a final result until the declaration for Region 4 is properly done in accordance with Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act.
That was on March 11. This was followed by a tabulation process that was flawed and rigged in favour of the Coalition, since a ‘magical ‘spreadsheet’ was conjured and used, and not the original statements of poll figures. GECOM had deliberately failed to comply with this order, and contempt of court proceeding were filed against the Returning Office, the CEO and GECOM on March 12.
But then, lo and behold, on Friday, March 13, GECOM declared APNU/AFC the winner. Imagine the gross disrespect for the Chief Justice’s rulings. Is this not a clear indication that the PNC’s flag is still flying above our courts? Such blatant disregard is not tolerated in a democracy!
However, in the pursuit of expediency, the Opposition parties opted for a recount, which would not have been required had GECOM complied with the Chief Justice’s orders. But while Granger and Jagdeo agreed for the recount to be done, and an aide memoir was signed to that effect, an APNU/AFC candidate not surprisingly sought an injunction to block the recount.
Are Guyanese so gullible as to actually believe that this candidate acted on her own volition, and could afford the huge financial resources required to engage top lawyers? But this was just another ploy to make use of the court system to rule in their favour.
Had the recount not been granted and an election petition been used instead, Guyanese would have had to wait an eternity for a legal resolution, just like the 2015 petition. This gave rise to another questionable judgment delivered by Justice Holder in the High Court, which was correctly overturned again by the Chief Justice. And, as expected, once again, the assistance of the Court of Appeal was sought, even though the Chief Justice denied an application for appeal.
The Appeal Court then bounced the ball back to GECOM. It has become clear that the PNC’s flag still flies high above our courts.
The PNC-controlled GECOM wasted no time in trying to enable the rigging of the recount. The Chief Elections Officer, who has long been carrying out the dictates of the PNC, immediately came out with a recount which would last 156 days, or over 5 months. This, no doubt, would give Granger and his Burnhamite faction the time needed to frustrate the recount by eliminating foreign and local observers and providing an opportunity to tamper with the ballot boxes. This is an old PNC method which was repeatedly used to rig all elections in the past.
The tampering and damaging of the ballot boxes may well give David Hinds his opportunity for a new election a long time from now. However, it is quite opportune that the Organization of American States has now added its voice for the removal of partisan GECOM officials from the recounting process.
It is now public knowledge that the CEO Lowenfield, his Deputy Myers and Returning Officer Mingo should be removed from the process.
Lastly, Granger and his gang should know that hiring of a lobbyist using taxpayers’ dollars to whitewash their badly tarnished image to the world at large would never be successful. The damage has been done, and numerous coats of elaborate whitewashing would not hide the fact that they have attempted multiple times, and are still attempting, to rig the 2020 Elections. These people should not be allowed to drag Guyana down the abyss of a dictatorship again.
The GECOM Chairperson must now prove to Guyanese and the international community that she is fair and impartial, and is capable of delivery a free, fair and credible election. Again, she has promised the recount to be completed ‘possibly’ by April 30, and Guyanese are holding her to that. Enough excuses Madam Chairperson!

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf