Ship of State careening towards undemocratic iceberg

Dear Editor,
We are 232 days on from the passage of the No-Confidence Motion; we have missed our first constitutionally mandated deadline for elections on March 21 and are now 39 days from the advent of a usurper Executive and the end of constitutional rule of law. Sadly, much like the musicians on the Titanic, APNU/AFC’s band of supporters, apologists and appeasers keep on playing as the ship of State careens towards the undemocratic iceberg, threatening all the citizens of our dear land with dire consequences.
It is unnerving to witness perfectly normal people behaving unhinged in defence of ‘straw men’ being used as the APNU/AFC lifeboats. While I can understand that questions such as ‘what constitutes a majority of 65?’ can be raised, I cannot fathom that a few minutes with a pencil and paper would not lead all but village idiots to the correct answer. Similarly, the other issues raised in defiance of the No-Confidence Motion and questioning its validity could have been easily discerned by reading the relevant Articles of the Constitution. The Judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) were restrained in their cruelty and mocking of our Attorney General and others appearing for the Government and its actors, nevertheless, the insults were there, diplomatically couched with a threadbare veil. At the end of it all, we were told to go read our Constitution where the relevant Articles were clear, and yet it seems, there are those unwilling to comprehend and may well have us return to the CCJ for more punishment to the national psyche. I shudder at the thought of what would be said of the ‘Guyanese’ intellect.
The Gold Board man, GHK Lall, is the latest to prostrate himself under the David G bus. Lall was taken to task by one of his former students via the letter columns after he suggested that “the entire collection of qualified voter information through registration (barring the objections period) could – should – occupy six weeks or less” This poppycock is not based on anything factual, GECOM has provided a work plan that includes House-to-House Registration, which would see a possible election mid-2020 if all goes well. That a former student should have to provide factual evidence to counter a fallacious argument presented by a teacher must be humiliating for GHK, but, it would seem, some have lost all sense of honour and dignity in pursuit of perks and privileges. GHK Lall has brought himself low in the esteem of many with this attempt to pass off presumptive nonsense as serious thought. ‘The gold in them dar hills’ must be more than a soul is worth.
Editor, Guyana has a credible National Register of Registrants (NRR), that is a fact. A Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) can be extracted within hours from the NRR, this is a fact. A Claims and Objections exercise can and will allow all eligible voters to be placed on the Official List of Electors (OLE), this is a fact. A credible election can be held in Guyana in a short time following the production of a PLE, a period of Claims and Objections and the provision of an OLE thereafter, this is a fact. In 2015, US Charge d’Affaires Bryan Hunt said: “the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has provided everyone with more than sufficient opportunity to review the preliminary list, raise concerns about it, issue objections to inclusion of names, and the objections that did come were credibly dealt with” (SN 26.4.2015). Any argument that an election based on a yet-to-be-created NRR Database will be more credible is fallacious, to add that it can be done promptly as mandated by our Constitution is downright dishonest.
We are not yet beyond the pale of constitutional rule, President Granger needs to be advised by sober men, not swayed by charlatans who are clinging to power and perks. President Granger must act quickly before the ship hits the iceberg and all is lost, for the band played until the end, they never got into the lifeboats, they perished along with their captain.

Respectfully,
Robin Singh