“I got a lot of threats” – outgoing Canadian High Commissioner Chatterjee

5-month attempt to rig elections

By Jarryl Bryan

Outgoing Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee will soon take up her next diplomatic mission in Barbados. But she is unlikely to forget the five-month election controversy in Guyana and the threats that came her way.

In an exclusive interview with this publication on Saturday, Chatterjee admitted that those five months saw a number of threats being made against her. She revealed that at the insistence of the Canadian Government, her security was even beefed up to a 24/7 security detail.

It was unfamiliar territory for the diplomat. But according to her, she was never intimidated, nor did she flinch from carrying out her duties and insisting on the will of the people as expressed in the polls, being respected.
“The Canadian Government insisted that I take on 24/7 security. I wouldn’t say I was frightened. But I was under attack and that was an unfamiliar experience for me to be criticised (for my position). Because Canada does not take sides. We do not have a horse in the race. We just wanted it to be a free and fair elections. That’s all we were calling for.”
“And so, it was surprising to me that people fabricated things about what I may have done or said. Because that’s not how we are. But I wasn’t going to back down. I wasn’t intimidated, I wasn’t frightened. But I did get a lot of threats,” Chatterjee explained.
It was only a few days ago that Chatterjee and her fellow ABCE diplomats (former British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn, US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch and European Union Ambassador Fernando Ponce-Canto) were honoured by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA).
Asked about how she felt when she received her award, the High Commissioner said the experience was a humbling one. According to her, she was not even fully aware of the significance of her advocacy for democracy, until after President Dr Irfaan Ali was inaugurated.
“It was humbling, because when you go through it you just feel like you’re doing your job. And it has only been since the inauguration of President Ali, that so many people come up to me, thanking me for my role… I was speaking up on behalf of our Canadian Government. Just advocating for our principles of respecting the will of the people,” Chatterjee said.
“But I didn’t think that it was so appreciated by Guyanese people. One of the things that really touched me was a six-year-old, coming up to me saying thank you so much. And I was taken aback. This six-year-old thanking me. And I would be in grocery stores or different areas. And people would come up and say, thank you. And that has humbled me and warmed me, that it was so recognised.”
Chatterjee and her three counterparts were vocal in their calls for democracy to prevail in Guyana, and for the will of the Guyanese people to be respected after the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition Government refused to concede defeat at the March 2 polls and demit office.
The Western diplomats had deemed the tabulation process for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – Guyana’s largest voting district – as lacking transparency and credibility. As the electoral impasse continued months after the March polls, the ABCE diplomatic community continued mounting pressure on the former Government to concede defeat, warning of Guyana facing isolation and consequences.
In fact, the United States had gone ahead to impose visa sanctions against several Government and electoral officials and their immediate family members for their role in the controversy. The UK, Canada, as well as the EU had also indicated that they were considering doing likewise.
Even now there are two election petitions before the High Court, which seek to vitiate the elections and cause fresh elections to be called. However, there is also an application from Attorney General Anil Nandlall that seeks to strike out one of the petitions on the grounds of its service breaching the National Assembly Validity of Elections Act. A decision is expected to be made next month.