The consequences of delay in hearing the elections petition

– Delay and Silence has effectively sanctioned post electoral violence at the next election

By Charles S. Ramson

In a few months, it will be almost two years without even a hearing of the election petition filed in Supreme Court of Judicature while in contrast, for example, Trinidad and Tobago has not only had a hearing but a ruling with a written decision and an Appeal filed and the dismissal of that Appeal by their Court of Appeal. The excessive delay in Guyana has damaged seriously the credibility and legitimacy of the judicial process as a non-violent means of settling election disputes.

The consequences of this damaged process is extremely grave indeed. Disputes are inevitable in life and a non-violent means of solving those disputes is absolutely critical to our civilization. Courts have been the universal institutional creature specifically created, accessed, and applied for that very purpose – a non-violent means of dispute resolution. But, essential to its operation is the pillar of credibility, i.e. people believing that this institution will yield a result which is both impartial and expeditious.

The excessive delay in hearing the election petition has the consequence that should there be another dispute arising out of a future election the people and its leaders will be less willing to initiate the judicial (non-violent) process resorting instead to the visceral mob response of taking to the streets in a violent expression of discontent.

The likelihood of such is increased when one considers the historical fact that the only time we have never had post-election disturbances and/or riots post-1991 was when the APNU-AFC were declared the government by GECOM in May, 2015.

Equally grave, however, is the silence of the NGOs, the political activists, political parties (excluding the PPP but including those of the parties in the coalition government), and the international community representatives. Why? This silence has effectively sanctioned post-election violence after the next election regardless of which side wins as the people have been imbued with the feeling that not only has the judicial (non-violent) option effectively been rendered otiose by virtue of excessive delay, but the representatives are not voicing their concern over this delay so as to put pressure on the judicial powers to expedite the hearing.

In particular, the ubiquitous international representatives who made it their mission to be present and to issue statements and directives during and immediately after the May 2015 election such as “take your seat in parliament…” or strong statements to stop publicly complaining and have the claim of a fraudulent result heard in court have gone mute on the issue of the excessive delay quite possibly without appreciating the grave potential consequence of their silence.

This delay along with the an un-concomitant silence should worry all Guyanese and all interested in the welfare of the Guyana especially now that Guyana is on the verge of being a significant oil and gas producer in the world. Global events in the last few years such as the Arab spring and post-election protests in the USA have shown what an angry mob can do to a country and how difficult it can be to control or predict outcomes.

So any unrest and political destabilization in Guyana can destroy investment (both foreign and local) and investor confidence but also disrupt future oil supply to the world. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” Martin Luther King Jr.