Oil price collapse, COVID-19, election impasse, international sanctions, battered economy

Dear Editor,
Tuesday (21/4/20), oil price has collapsed on the world market to the extent that the price of US oil has turned negative for the first time in history. Just a few months ago, oil price was riding high. In January 2020, US Energy Information Administration reported that the average price of Brent crude oil in 2019 was $64 per barrel. However, Guyana can no longer count on a windfall of oil revenues to balance its economy, and no one can predict with any certainty when this COVID-19 crisis will end, or when the world demand for oil will once again increase.
Our country now faces a fivefold setback (1) COVID-19, (2) falling oil prices, (3) an election impasse, (4) high levels of unemployment, and (5) the prospect of sanctions from Western countries.
But Justice Claudette Singh has the solution. By using the powers entrusted to her by the Constitution of Guyana, she can single- handily directly remove at least two obstacles: the election impasse and the prospect of sanctions from Western countries, and by doing so, we can start addressing the other problems. She must immediately put an end to this saga by ordering a resumption of the tabulation of Region 4 results from the time when Mingo began his fraudulent tabulation. This is the only region wherein the elections results were not impartially tabulated and declared.
Alternatively, if she must do a recount, complete Region 4 first, and declare the results; but she must first put measures in place to avoid a fraudulent recount. She must have impartial observers; have present at each counting station representatives of each party that took part in the elections; have the recount televised; and prevent the tampering of ballot boxes throughout the process.
Compromised GECOM staffers must not, in any way, be involved in the counting process or the declaration of results.
The already declared statements of poll which are in the public domain, and which are legal documents, must be used as a yardstick to measure the outcome of any count.
If she allows any recount to be compromised by not implementing appropriate measures to prevent any fraudulent results, she would be committing great harm on the Guyanese people. International sanctions will be placed upon us, we will suffer the same fate as our neighbour Venezuela, and our economy will slide further into recession.
EU Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz-Canto, said if there is a breach of democracy, the EU will have to impose sanctions on Guyana. This statement is echoed by Canada, The United States, Caricom, The Commonwealth, The Organisation of American States, The Carter Center, and all other local and international observers. Any sanctions against Guyana will devastate an already battered economy, and we will no longer be able to depend on oil as our saviour.

Sincerely,
Harry Beharry