Well, here we go again – revising the elections laws to “get it right” !! If there’s one thing we lead the world in, it’s gotta be “fixing” the electoral system. We’re still screwed up, but hey…can’t blame Governments over the years for not “FIXING” things. But that’s the problem, ain’t it?? It’s all about who’s doing the “fixing”, and for what purpose!! For hundreds of years, most couldn’t vote because they didn’t “qualify” – not enough money and property!! Then when enough Coloureds could jump through those hoops, the Brits changed the entire system of governance to make votes irrelevant!!
Finally, when they wanted the PPP out, they just “fixed” the electoral system from FPTP to PR, and that was that! Burnham had learnt well, and changed the Registration System to “fix” the 1968 elections by making counting of votes irrelevant! And so it was in 1973, 1978 (referendum), 1980 and 1985: each election was preceded by “fixes” followed by ingenious PNC end runs!! The “free and fair” elections of 1992 were conducted through a “complete overhaul of all aspects of the electoral system” – from registration to counting at the place of poll.
But that didn’t stop the “fixing”!! 1997 saw the PNC agree with the PPP to use National ID cards to vote – but as soon as they lost, they went to the Courts to claim the election was invalid, since the laws didn’t approve that requirement!! The 2000 overhaul of the Constitution had a slew of modifications tightening the electoral rules…accommodating more constituency seats, for instance. But when the PNC finally got back into power in 2015, we witnessed their naked and blatant grab for power by misusing some rules of tabulation that everyone thought were quite mundane!!
And that’s why your Eyewitness believes the present attempt that’s trying to lock the door to the donkey’s pen – we don’t do horses and stables!! – while necessary, ain’t gonna be enough to restrain the PNC from their deeply embedded compulsions!! It’s like “the Devil makes them do it” – just it’s their own carefully nurtured Devil!! It’s said that “Stricter the government, wiser the population”, but when it comes to elections, it’s stricter the legislation, more reckless the PNC!! If this shameless bunch can try to rig in front of the whole world by using concocted spreadsheets and a soiled bedsheet, what else wouldn’t they do??!!
Now, while your Eyewitness might sound cynical, the sad truth is this is where Guyana’s at right now – the PNC still hasn’t accepted it doesn’t have to go the crooked route to acquire power. They did the right thing in 2015, and can do it again.
Once both sides have to observe the SAME set of electoral rules!!
…oil, more oil
Exxon just struck oil in two more wells!! Back in the day, folk wisdom insisted there was oil off the mud beaches of our Atlantic Coast!! They didn’t need no fancy geological surveys to tell them that. Their own logic sufficed. They’d ask, “Aren’t we below sea level, and so, lower than Venezuela??” After you conceded that, there came the clincher: “Then the oil from Venezuela has to be oozing our way!!” Well looks like the gushers that Exxon keeps hitting – well after well – are proving the old folks right!!
But as the same Venezuela has proven – with the largest oil reserves in the world dwarfing Saudi Arabia’s!! – and once pumping 3 million barrels/day, look where they are today. 95% of the population are living in poverty, and six million have fled!! And why is this?? Leadership that refused to understand what made the world go round.
As Kenny Rogers advised, “You gotta know when to hold it, and know when to fold it!!” Guyana’s folding it!!
…nastiness
Well, after some evasion of eyes from some real nasty behaviour of a couple of “never-see-come-fuh-see” big ones, Pres Ali moved quickly and decisively to axe the foul-mouthed diplomat. Can’t have our newfound fame sullied!!
