Dear Editor,
Michelle Obama famously remarked, “When they go low, we go high”. While the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and APNU/AFC have made it extremely easy for the rest of Guyana to take the high ground, the question is: How low will they go?
If it is any indication, Mr Keith Lowenfield’s summation and unwarranted interpretation of the Observation Reports generated during the National Recount suggest there is no bottom in sight, only the abyss.
And from all accounts, Mr. David Granger and his APNU+AFC cabal appear more determined than ever to divide and destroy Guyana. So far, their efforts have gained very little traction, but their persistence is duly noted, both at home and abroad. By now there seems to be little doubt that Mr. Granger is complicit in the continual attempt to deny the will of the Guyanese people.
He would have known the outcome of these elections as early as March 3; and if there were any doubts, surely, the results of the recount would have put those to rest. Despite this, unsubstantiated claims of anomalies were raised during the recount, and those were flagrantly distorted and manipulated in the tabulation report. His refusal to do the honourable thing and concede does not leave much to the imagination regarding his ultimate intention.
Additionally, Mr. Granger’s hostile demeanour following a recent call by incoming Chairman of the Caribbean Community, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, for GECOM to respect the recount, is further evidence of his reluctance to put Guyana first. And if that is not instructive, surely his intimation that a state of emergency is conceivable if the elections are annulled further demonstrates the despotic path he is hell bent on taking.
Unlike his hero Forbes Burnham, whose legacy of rigged elections is well documented, almost every shameful act done by Mr. Granger and his co-conspirators has been exposed in near real-time for the world to see. He cannot hide from it, nor should Guyanese allow him to escape it. Thus, if he honestly believes that the Guyanese people and the international community would stand idly by and allow him to disregard the true will of the people, he is gravely mistaken. There is absolutely no room for a ‘benevolent’ dictator or ‘sanctimonious gangster’ in Guyana.
It is not as if Mr. Granger is being asked to compromise. He has lost these elections fair and square. The CARICOM-observed recount of votes cast on March 2 clearly shows the winner of these elections. Also, Article 177: 2 (b) of the Constitution of Guyana is clear as day.
With Mr. Granger’s determination to hold on to power at all cost, it is now incumbent on Justice Claudette Singh to put an end to this misery once and for all. Should she vote with the APNU+AFC-appointed GECOM Commissioners to disregard the recount tabulation and illegally annul the elections, the final blow to democracy in Guyana would have materialised before our very eyes. However, given that irrefutable evidence has flowed from the recount exercise to establish that the PPP/C has won these elections, the international community should have absolutely no problem in recognising Dr. Irfaan Ali as the duly elected President of Guyana.
What should follow thereafter are swift and decisive sanctions imposed on all those who have participated in and/or facilitated what can only be described as the most brazen election theft in recent history anywhere in the world.
Despite having a reputation for being resilient in the face of adversity, the Guyanese people have endured a lot in the last few months. In a couple of days, their faith in all that is righteous and just will be tested, or their worst fears would be realised. Whatever eventuates, history will not be kind to Mr. Granger and his APNU+AFC comrades.
Yours faithfully,
Omchand Mahdu
