Obnoxious behavior by Singh and Nagamootoo

Dear Editor,
Over the years, Guyana has weathered all sorts of storms and came out on top, but since the elections on March 2, it has sunk to a new low through the actions of Claudette Singh, chair of GECOM. In this modern era, it is important to the nation for democracy, free and fair elections and the people’s will to prevail. But this has not been the case with Claudette Singh and Moses Nagamootoo who are bent to hinder the will of the people, stifle the democratic process, steal the elections and hence frustrate the people. As a nation, we must not sit idly by and allow the evil doers in our society to prosper. As Albert Einstein advised, “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them do it without doing anything about it”.
Guyana has a system of governance in which the supreme power is vested in the people and is exercised in them through a system of representation by the people and not in the hands of Claudette Singh. It is a system that involves periodically held free and fair elections. But what the people have witnessed since March 4, 2020, is a blatant violation of the constitution, the destruction of our democracy and the will of the people repudiated. In 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2006, the people had decided that they wanted the PPPC to be their government and those rights were respected by the respective Chairpersons of GECOM. In 2011, the people decided they wanted a minority PPPC government and once again the Chairperson of GECOM respected their rights. In 2015, the people decided that they wanted the PPPC out of office therefore they elected the APNU+AFC coalition government and again their rights were fully respected by the Chair of GECOM.
In these periods, there were no lengthy delays in announcing the election results, no unauthorized squatting in power, blatant rigging of elections and certainly no bullyism of the people by the incumbent. That is how democracy is supposed to work; but today we are witnessing a barefaced attempt to undermine the electoral process under the weak and compromised leadership of Claudette Singh. It is a farce. GECOM is a constituted body which means that Claudette Singh answers to no one but the people, the true shareholders of our democracy. Further, there was no reason or obligation for GECOM, being a constitutional to consult with Moses Nagamootoo, head of the COVID19 Committee and definitely to no politicians or anyone else before making decisions. So for her to submit a request to Moses Nagamootoo of the COVID 19 Committee to determine if the votes could be counted beyond the curfew hours shows absolute disrespect for the people. As a former judge she should have known that the finalizing of the elections is an essential service. However, she continued to play games by delaying the tabulation of the results in order to appease the powers that be, despite the fact that both the High Court and the Guyana Court of Appeals have given GECOM the green light to recount the votes over a month ago.
Moses Nagamootoo’s proclamation to GECOM not to tabulate the votes beyond 6 PM curfew and to quarantine the international observers for 14 days even if they test negative for COVID19 is at best a ploy to delay or not to recount the votes. This type of behavior exhibits a complicit attitude on the part of Madam Claudette Singh and Moses Nagamootoo to subvert the democratic process. More than that, by submitting a request to Nagamootoo, Claudette Singh is meant to frustrate the people and disrupt the democratic process. Both Singh and Nagamootoo actions along with COVID 19 have directly contributed to the rupturing of the economy and placed the country at a crossroad. At some time in the future, the actions of Claudette Singh may warrant an investigation to ascertain if she has been involved in any political collusion to prejudice the results of the 2020 elections. Since its creation, GECOM has had a number of chairpersons who have executed their functions with grace, decorum and civility and have earned the respect of the people but not the partial and conceited Claudette Singh whose functions at GECOM is headed into dustbins. Simply put her attitude is obnoxious and her behavior resembles those in the ghetto.

Sincerely,
Dr Asquith Rose and
Sasenarine Singh