Joseph Harmon must understand that democracy cannot be preserved on fraud

Dear Editor,
COVID-19 Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Harmon’s recent tantrums stated that the report presented to the OAS Council by Mr Bruce Golding, the Head of the OAS Observer Mission to the Guyana March 2, 2020 Regional and National Elections, was “partisan and biased.” One visualises how emotions quickly overpower objectivity in Harmon’s response.
He apparently based his jaundiced conclusion on the premise that Mr Bruce Golding is a friend of Bharrat Jagdeo and is therefore not only partisan but also could not be fair and impartial. This is not only a simplistic position but also a reprehensible and unprofessional one. I believe it also speaks to the chaotic and vacillating positions of the coalition in their clumsy quest to defend GECOM’s attempt to steal an election in the plain view of the world.
To impugn an elderly Caricom statesman’s integrity because of his friendship with another Caricom leader is preposterous. Why, as CEO of COVID-19 Task Force did Harmon issue this statement? This matter has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. Does Harmon still function as Director General of the Office of the President? If not, in what capacity did he issue those callous statements? Mr Golding was referring to the fraud being perpetrated by GECOM’s Clairmont Mingo and not to the PNCR or its coalition. Why then did Harmon find it convenient to respond on behalf of GECOM? In so doing, hasn’t he demonstrated a symmetry between the PNCR and GECOM?
Would this Harmon position turn out to be another case as the dossier one, where he issued it (dossier) on behalf of the de facto Government but was forced to recant his story when Mr David Granger distanced himself and his de facto Government from the dossier? After that embarrassment, Harmon said that the dossier was a PNCR-AFC document. Really!
Why was Harmon, as CEO of the COVID-19 Task Force, allowed to issue those controversial statements on such an important international issue as the OAS Observer Mission report? Why didn’t Mr Granger issue that statement or his de facto Foreign Secretary? Is there a jurisdictional conflict involved?
Mr Bruce Golding headed a team of 17 members who are knowledgeable and experienced election observers drawn from various countries. They were screened prior to their selection as members of the OAS observation team, according to Sir Ron Saunders. Golding’s response was a collective one.
What bothers me is that Harmon, as a lawyer, should know the truth but instead, he turns the other way.  He and other top party officials have access to the GECOM-issued SoPs and are, therefore, aware that the PPP/C won the elections. Furthermore, the Statements of Recount (SoRs) so far have proved that GECOM’s Mingo did produce a series of fictitious figures.
Mr Harmon knows that Mr Golding’s presentation to the OAS was not only professional but also that its main findings are consistent with those issued by all the other international (Caricom, EU, Commonwealth, Carter Center, etc) and local observer teams (Private Sector Commission, etc) as well as by all the political parties, except the PNCR-AFC. I can’t help but conclude that the PNCR, by their attempts to influence GECOM, combined with their defence of attempts at electoral rigging, has put themselves into a position where they are standing alone, completely isolated.
The PNCR has taken the position that anybody or group that condemns the open and blatant GECOM’s Mingo’s attempts at rigging is deemed biased and a friend of the PPP/C. Or, interfering in the country’s internal affairs! What a stretch!
International and national observer teams had performed a similar role in previous Guyana General and Regional Elections, including the 2015 elections, and have never been accused of bias. Now the PNCR sees them as enemies because they rejected non-credible and non-transparent elections results. Instead, they stood up in defence of democracy, something which Harmon’s leader David Granger advocates and claims that he embraces.
When all members of the western diplomatic community condemned GECOM‘s Mingo for his attempts at voter tabulation fraud they too are attacked by the PNCR as interfering in the country’s domestic affairs. In defence, the US Ambassador referred to their (diplomatic) action as “good diplomacy.”
The evidence from the recount is overwhelming. The PPP/C won the elections. The PNCR lost by a wide margin. For how long more would the PNCR continue to grab power and cause the nation to haemorrhage?
Again, I repeat, the PNCR can still redeem themselves and save the country from further affliction by conceding their defeat. And let the country move forward!

Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh