Only group undermining Guyana’s democracy is APNU/AFC

Dear Editor,
“What new value can the Carter Center add to the process of recounting?” This is the headline in the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 for a letter by Royston King.
King claims he is “astonished at the extraordinary fuss being made” about the Carter Center being blocked from returning to Guyana for the recount of votes from the 2020 Elections. He also questions what the Carter Center can do that “teams on the ground” in Guyana cannot do.
Here is where I must point out Royston King’s barefaced attempt to mislead Guyanese.
Who is on the ground, Mr. Royston King? The fact is that the recount is taking place without any of the major international election observer missions. Not the Carter Center! Not the Commonwealth! Not the Organisation of America States! Not the European Union! None of them is here!
Mr Royston King also insists that the “more the merrier” argument when it comes to international election observer missions is not necessarily true. This is unacceptable. Greater scrutiny would add transparency and credibility to the recount process, especially in this case, when there was an attempt to rig the elections.
Also, using the COVID-19 argument to say Guyana does not need more people here has been identified by the United Nations Secretary General and other international organisations that deal with elections as the tool being used by authoritarians and dictators to subdue the will of the people.
To his point about our democracy being undermined by Western nations, I wish to point out that the right to vote is a key element in democracies, and the only group that is undermining this is the incumbent APNU/AFC Coalition.
Lastly, I would say that if this Royston King is the same discredited former official of City Hall, which has been under the control of the PNC/APNU/AFC for decades, it makes sense that he would be one to object to oversight. After all, misdeeds are most often committed in the dark.

Yours faithfully,
Attiya Bakshw