Home Letters In the end, all their deceitful efforts failed
Dear Editor,
Guyanese, if for some reason there is disregard for the recounted votes and an accompanying attempt to ignore democracy and the rule of law by the David Granger caretaker Government, the international community will come down hard on an illegitimate Government. Guyana has been in a prolonged constitutional crisis since Dec 18, 2018. That’s when the Government of President David Granger and his ruling coalition, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) lost a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) vote against it in the National Assembly, then failed to step down within three months as mandated by the Constitution and a ruling of the regional Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The constitutional crisis endured through all of 2019, with various legal disputes, and effectively launched the country into an election campaign. Eventually, per a Supreme Court decision, the APNU/AFC called for General Elections on March 2, 2020, Now that the recount is soon coming to an end, the APNU/AFC Caretaker Government’s strong arm, Joseph Harmon openly demanded and issued an ultimatum on GECOM to pronounce on APNU/AFC’s recount allegations on June 5, 2020.
Joseph Harmon has clearly demonstrated to the Guyanese people that he cares less about them, he is concerned more about the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Executive members clinging on to power.
Mr Joseph Harmon, it is disrespectful and unacceptable for you and the APNU/AFC to give GECOM an ultimatum. GECOM is an independent constitutional body and every Guyanese including you must respect the rule of law. This is an act of desperation, in the face of an electoral loss.
The coalition lost these elections….we are confident that the conclusion of the recount of the ballot boxes will result in a true representation of the will of the people of Guyana.
Guyanese, we know what is at stake here – the oil and natural gas reserves. Eight billion barrels of oil which the APNU/AFC strong arms are fighting to remain in power to control. Guyanese, let’s “speak it as we see it “, there must not be any divide along ethnic lines here, we have all seen that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic elected Government in 1992 took a bankrupted Guyana, moving it to a respectable country when they left office in 2015, which was all done without “oil money”. Can you imagine what a PPP/C elected Government in 2020 will do when oil revenues become available? Guyana was truly blessed to have men with perhaps the most brilliant brain in financial management serving the people and country as Ministers of Finance. Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and Dr Ashni Singh. I am proud to say as a Guyanese that those men transformed Guyana’s economy from bankruptcy in 1992 to the thriving economy in 2015 that the APNU/AFC received when it came into power. To achieve eight consecutive years of economic growth at a time when economies throughout the world were going through a recession is unheard of, which is an outstanding achievement.
The people of Guyana know it has been the APNU/AFC’s desperate mantra the moment Clairmont Mingo was caught attempting to perpetrate massive fraud in the tabulation of Electoral District Number Four (4) to their benefit, the APNU/AFC cabal fought determinedly for Mingo’s fraudulent declarations to prevail. They never wanted a recount of the ballots. They even went to the court to stop it. They tried at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to stop it. But “in the end, all their deceitful efforts failed”. The caretaker Government knew that once the ballots were recounted, it would confirm the accuracy of the SoPs, which they continue to hide from public scrutiny which will confirm victory for the people of Guyana and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.
The EU said the integrity of the entire elections process was compromised when Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, began the non-transparent and non-credible tabulation of Electoral District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) results. This sentiment was expressed by the European Union Elections Observer Mission (EU EOM) in its final report presented to Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh.
My fellow Guyanese, it’s important to note that “the individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate governments will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States,” – US Secretary of State.
Sincerely,
David Adams