PNC posturing on LGE aimed at undermining its integrity

Dear Editor,
The Local Government Elections would be held on March 13, 2023, and the governing PPP/Civic has already indicated that it would be participating in the elections, and would be contesting all seats in all Municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils.
Opposition political parties are yet to pronounce on their participation, or the extent of their participation. This is not surprising, as it is very evident that the political Opposition has not recovered, even partially, from its electoral defeat in 2020 National Elections, and its shameless attempt to rig the said elections.
Stories in the local media and internet would suggest that main spokespersons for the Opposition, Aubrey Norton and Khemraj Ramjattan, continue to live in denial, with the false claim about the PPP rigging itself into power, that the PPP was installed by Western powers, that dead people voted, and more. They simply cannot come to grips with the notion that they were voted out of Government because of their disastrous performance during those five years in office.
Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, is making noises about a bloated voters list. Of course, he doesn’t mention the fact that the same bloated list was used in the 2015 elections which APNU+AFC won. The PNC is well aware of the tremendous efforts by GECOM to sanitize the list as far as dead persons in Guyana are concerned.
The big question is: How to remove those deceased persons living overseas and whose deaths are not reported, thus not removed? The Opposition’s answer to this issue is to stop Guyanese living abroad from voting. The Chief Justice has ruled, and the PPP has explained over and over again, that residency is not a qualification to be a voter. It is unconstitutional to remove from the voters list registered persons who now reside overseas.
The Opposition would have to make its position clear sooner, rather than later. Opposition supporters are looking on with interest. Many already understand that an Opposition boycott would see the PPP/C taking over all the Local Government bodies. Most Opposition councillors elected at the last Local Government Elections are quite rightfully apprehensive.
From all appearances, GECOM is going full speed ahead with the elections. Most Guyanese are comfortable with that, as they know that the robust mechanisms put in place over the years are quite sufficient to prevent voter manipulation, especially multiple voting and voter impersonation. The intense scrutiny that takes place on voting day by political parties and local and foreign observers makes it impossible for skullduggery to take place at polling stations on the scale alleged by the Opposition.
The Leader of the Opposition and the PNC are pretending to be interested in free and fair elections; the opposite is the truth. The history of Guyana is rife with numerous incidents of vote rigging by the same PNC, which included multiple voting, switching of ballot boxes, wholesale stuffing of ballot boxes in PNC areas, etc. For the PNC to now raise the possibility of vote rigging is quite laughable.
The PNC is the only party that has been exposed so very often in the past as having been involved in the rigging of elections. The most vivid example took place just a little more than two years ago, when, for five long months, before the eyes of the country and the world, the PNC attempted to steal the 2020 elections. Their present posturing can only be seen as red herrings aimed at undermining the integrity of the elections. How can they expect to be taken seriously?

Respectfully yours,
Brian Azore