Guyana’s international image has been “terribly” damaged by APNU/AFC – Teixeira

After Guyana established itself on the world stage for its vast petroleum and forest resources, its international image has now been stained by the seemingly never-ending elections deadlock, which has been fuelled by the David Granger-led Administration.

This was the position shared by Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Gail Teixeira, during an appearance on “Mornin’ Barbados” on CBC TV8.
Many countries across the Region and wider hemisphere have been observing the situation in Guyana, which started since early March. Teixeira insisted that there was a high chance of A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) supporter Misenga Jones’ case reaching the Caribbean Court of Justice – a consequence which was labelled a travesty.
She said the continued court matters coupled with calls for the coalition to concede have left Guyanese in a state of embarrassment.
“We will succeed. The issue is how long this will take, because obviously if they go to the Court of Appeal, there is also the chance that we end back at the Caribbean Court of Justice, which would really be a tragedy and a travesty. As Guyanese, we are embarrassed by all this. Our international image has been damaged terribly by what is going on. We are embarrassed by it as a people, even though we are not for this, that our dignity as a people is being thrown out the window,” the Opposition Executive asserted.

She reminded that the courts would have previously decided that the votes cast could not be invalidated until a declaration is made. If there were any doubts or challenges, they would have to be dealt with later in an elections petition. In fact, there have been no precedents in any jurisdiction, even in a dictatorship regime, where such acts have occurred.
“That the Guyana Elections Commission nor the Court at this stage with no declaration can invalidate or remove votes from the declaration. Despite that, the Granger-led Government is trying to thwart the will of the Guyanese people. This is unprecedented. We cannot find and there is no case in the world where a parliamentary democracy, even in a dictatorship, that anything like this has happened,” Teixeira said.
She reiterated that the PPP/C has won the elections and was backed by all international observers, the diplomatic community, regional and international organisations among others.
“We’re still on a treadmill, what I call a treacherous rollercoaster for the last 141 days … The People’s Progressive Party/Civic has won and we have the support of the entire world…133 countries have called on the Granger-led Government to concede that they lost the election and stop trying to prevent the declaration of the results so that a legitimate government can be installed,” she insisted.
Upon the PPP/C’s return to office, she said, it will take some time to resuscitate the dying economy and restore jobs lost during the coalition’s one term in office.
“One is the issue of governance that is critical, the manner in which we govern, which we have made commitments to ensure that the quality and anti-discrimination procedures are in place; and also, of course, issues of righting the economy, which is in terrible state. If we don’t do that, then we don’t have money to reduce poverty, provide jobs for our people…30,000 people lost their jobs in the last five years.”
She recalled that after the 1992 elections – which saw an end to the PNC’s 28-year rule – the country was in a collapsed state. Regrettably, she said, Guyana was almost back to that same position.
“We have to reconstruct. We have to rebuild. We have to build trust and confidence of our people in institutions, because those have really been undermined,” the veteran politician expressed. (G12)