The nation is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Caricom high-level observer team to oversee the national recount; and more particularly to validate the process so that a rightful winner of the March 2 General and Regional Elections could be declared and a government sworn in.
It is close to 60 days after the elections were held and the results are yet to be officially declared. Guyana is perhaps the only country in the world that has had elections and after such a long time, a winner is yet to be officially announced. The nation’s patience is running thin. Everyone wants to get the process over with and move on with their lives. At the moment, the country is at a standstill, with families and businesses, both large and small, feeling the squeeze due to the country facing two major setbacks at the same time – the coronavirus pandemic and the political crisis.
Considering all that has happened with the discredited District Four Results and the never-ending drama that followed, Guyana has one more chance to get it right; this of course has to do with the national recount being conducted in a transparent and credible manner. With the CARICOM team expecting to arrive on Thursday, we hope the recount process would commence with haste and the team would be given all the necessary support to carry out their task.
The fact that they have agreed to come, even at a time when their own countries are also battling to control the coronavirus pandemic, is quite commendable and Guyana owes them a debt of gratitude for their efforts. Leaving one’s family and the comfort and safety of one’s own home during this time is not an easy decision.
Many others who have made similar sacrifices over the past few weeks, including the international and local observer teams, the diplomatic corps in Guyana, party leaders and agents must all be saluted for their bravery and efforts in preventing the elections from being stolen. Many of these stakeholders have stood up, sometimes risking their own lives, to those who were bent on derailing the elections. These forces must never be allowed to carry out their selfish, dangerous actions. Democracy must be allowed to prevail.
That said, the task ahead remains incomplete; there is one last effort being made, via the recount, to have the process finalised to the satisfaction of all stakeholders and all must remain vigilant.
The post-elections events have been a national embarrassment and made this country a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. President David Granger has always claimed that he will abide by the Constitution, but he has done very little to convince the nation that he is a man of his words. His firm grip on power following his government’s defeat via a no-confidence vote in December 2018; and now more recently, his coalition’s refusal to allow a transparent count of the votes cast in the March 2 polls raise even more questions about his commitment to what he promises he will do.
As we stated yesterday, the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Rtd) Claudette Singh has already started on the wrong footing by siding with the pro-Government Commissioners and voting against key measures which would have brought greater transparency and acceptance of the elections results. Her justification for taking this route has been rejected.
One cannot understand what is the rationale for her rejecting the proposal to allow the Audit Office of Guyana or a private audit firm to aid and scrutinise the exercise, while at the same time retaining questionable staff members who were front and centre in their attempts to foist on the nation, fraudulent elections results.
Also, Justice Singh’s rejection of the proposal to have the recount livestreamed can never be accepted. Almost every stakeholder involved in the elections had signalled support for going this route, more so, because it would have boosted public confidence in the process, which would have also made it easier for the results to be accepted by all parties.
Justice Singh herself, in her written submissions to the court, had highlighted the importance of GECOM and the electoral process enjoying public confidence so that the election results would be accepted by all. This is exactly what the live streaming of the process and the other proposals contained in the PPP’s motions would have done.
We restate that there is only one way to bring an end to this political mess; that is, by having the votes recounted in an expeditious and transparent manner to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
