Let us put Guyana first, put democracy first

Dear Editor,
It is with a heavy heart that I am penning this letter. We have over our entire lifetime in Guyana co-existed with our brothers and sisters of all races. None of us, no one race has more rights to Guyana than the other. When we fight each other over decisions made by political leaders from any party, we are only creating more division in Guyana and some political leaders use that division as leverage to garner votes….votes – that is all they care about.
I understand the hurt felt, I know what it feels like, in the end, though we the people must still co-exist with each other and when your neighbour, your friend, your villager is struggling, help them.
Our leaders have security details, secured healthcare, better education opportunities for their kids and the list goes on and on.
So let’s remember that whenever we take action to show solidarity with our chosen leaders, let us do so with calm and respect, for Guyana belongs to all of us. To the staff at GECOM, after all your training and preparation, this is the grand finale. I know your work must be stressful with the eyes of every Guyanese and indeed, many in the world at large on you. Do not be swayed by any persuasions, remember the people of Guyana depend on you to deliver free and fair elections by having every vote counted and verified and it is still not too late. Verification worked for the nine other regions, it can and will work for Region Four as well and for sure it would greatly reduce the tension being projected in our country and in the end, whoever emerges as the winner, their victory will be a fair and credible victory. To the smaller political parties and the foreign and local observers and businesses who are making a stand, I applaud you because if we allow ourselves and our country to be branded by the international community as having an undemocratic process for choosing our leaders it will greatly harm us as a country, not to mention further division with our own people in Guyana. To the leaders of the two major political parties, let us put Guyana first, put democracy first and above all respect the staff and workers at GECOM and whenever a verified tally is released, we accept the results and respect the winner.
The only way or the best way forward is for us to work together with respect as leaders and over time that will transform to the populace and we will have a country that we can all be proud of.
Guyanese are wonderful people and they live together regardless of race or creed for the majority of times but at election time, racism and other divisions surface and some politicians will exploit that for votes…let us not allow that!
Just remember we can support different parties and still be friends, still do sports together, be good neighbours because we have been doing it for all the years between elections.

Sincerely,
Concerned citizen