The haemorrhage must stop: Mr David Granger should concede defeat

Dear Editor,
Post-elections’ trauma has struck PNCR’s Congress Place, Georgetown, as well as the NDP’s (National Democratic Party) headquarters in Paramaribo. Both the PNCR (APNU/AFC coalition is referred to as PNCR) of Guyana and the NDP of Suriname felt that they had a good chance (probably based on tracking polls, size of rallies, consultants’ advice) of winning their respective national elections. Well, what matters is the real polls on Election Day.
Both the governing party in Guyana (PNCR) and Suriname (NDP) have been stunned by their defeat at the polls. Both are resisting efforts to step down gracefully. Citizens of both countries are fearful that such recalcitrant behaviour might set the stage for the building of a full-fledged dictatorship, particularly in Guyana.
While the votes in Guyana’s March 2 elections are being recounted at ACCC, those in Suriname’s May 26 elections are also being recounted. The major difference is that Guyana’s recount has already taken up 23 days and still over 40 per cent of the ballot boxes remain to be counted. Information on the status of Suriname’s recount is not available.
What is troubling though is the reluctance of both governing parties (PNCR and NDP) to concede defeat and, by such intransigence, are posing a grave threat to democracy within the Caribbean region, especially having regard that both leaders, Guyana’s David Granger and Suriname’s Desi Bouterse are former military leaders, who still exercise a firm grip on the armed forces in their respective country. Such a threat did not escape the attention of Caricom‘s Ambassador to the OAS Noel Lynch who has emphasised the crucial need on May 13, 2020, to preserve democracy among Caricom countries.
In Guyana, the PNCR could have not held onto power and defied court rulings against them for over 16 months following the NCM (No-Confidence Motion) in November 2018, had it not been for its control over the armed forces. And they have continued on this Constitution busting track for over 11 weeks after the March 2 elections. Official elections results’ declaration nationally is yet to be made, and 11 weeks have elapsed since Election Day. Elements within the PNCR with a military background have developed strong links with Bouterse,  and it is not surprising therefore that he (Bouterse) seems to be using some of their (PNCR) post-election tactics in Suriname.
There is much scepticism over the role being played by GECOM in the Guyana elections including post-elections events, like Region Four’s vote tabulation fraud perpetrated by GECOM’s Clairmont Mingo. In addition, the controversial “audit“ which was allowed by GECOM to be a part of the recount process, even though President Granger and Mr Jagdeo agreed with mediator Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados to a vote recount of all 10 regions and not an audit.
There is the suggestion that the so-called audit was conceived by the PNCR to gather instances of irregularities (invented or real!) with a view to undermining the credibility of the elections and, therefore, squashing the elections. This is what the PNC wants but it would not happen. All the political parties, observer teams, diplomats, and others, except PNCR, say that Election Day polls were credible and transparent.
The good news for Surinamese is that they have a strong Elections Commission that is headed by a strong Chair.
The PNCR operatives have been consumed with belching out daily and sometimes conflicting narratives to divert attention to the massive fraud perpetrated by GECOM’s Mingo to steal the election victory from the PPP/C. The GECOM-issued SoPs clearly established that the PPP/C won by a huge margin of over 15,000 votes. And Region Four recount validates the PPP/C’s claim to victory.
Despite the herculean efforts by the PNCR to discredit the March 2 elections, this battle that they are waging to remain in power against the expressed will of the people will fall. Let it be known that the EU, the OAS, Caricom, Carter Center, Commonwealth, PSC, diplomats and political parties already have copies of the GECOM-issued SoPs which show a convincing PPP/C victory. To save the country from haemorrhage and agony, Mr Granger should concede defeat and give the country a chance to breathe freely again.

Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh