The Order of Democracy award is a befitting honour

Dear Editor,
March 2,2021 has marked one year since Guyana went to the polls with great expectation. All right-thinking Guyanese grasped the opportunity to ensure a change in Government and send the tyrannical Granger Administration into the dustbin of history; but alas, the dirtiest bunch on the planet had other ideas.
The immediate change was held hostage by the immoral APNU/ AFC. For five painful months, Guyana was made to bleed. The drama that unfolded still remains fresh in the minds of all Guyanese. That vicious APNU/AFC refused to accept defeat, and in broad daylight tried desperately to steal an election in clear view of the wide world. What a shameful deed for those culprits in the APNU/AFC to perpetrate that unthinkable stunt in this modern world of today.
Free and fair elections are the bedrock of any democracy, and is a prerequisite for the development of a country and its people. Guyana was held to ransom, and people’s lives were put on hold, compliments of the rotten Granger regime. The threat to democracy was very eminent.
However, the APNU/AFC underestimated the will of the people to withstand their most powerful punches and rise to the challenge. With the backing of the international community, the political parties, civil society and the Private Sector, the vast majority of the Guyanese people embarked on the painful path in defence of democracy. The riggers’ feet were kept on fire.
With all the democratic forces united in one common interest, with pressure mounting locally and internationally on the GECOM Chair, and with all options running out for Granger, he was forced to concede. It was a well-earned victory for all that stood up and defended Guyana’s democracy.
The Order of Democracy award could not have come at a better time. His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali must be commended for his great thought and initiative. It is a most welcome Order. Dr. Ali and the PPP/Government must be saluted. Guyana must never again be placed in such a situation, with the most heinous crime steering down the faces of the beloved people.
Going forward, laws must be enacted speedily for stiff penalties for the riggers, and to stand as a deterrent for such intentions. Any attempt at rigging an election must be labelled a crime against humanity. Perpetrators must be charged for treason – a capital crime punishable by death, and lifetime sentences with no window of opportunity for release from incarceration.
Entrusted public officials the likes of Keith Lowenfield, Roxanne Myers, Clairmont Mingo and others must be made to rot in jail. There must be lengthy jail terms for anyone who instigates, plots, masterminds, prods, aids and abets rigging of elections.
Unscrupulous politicians like Harmon, Ramjattan, Lawrence, Williams and their backers must be made to hang their heads in shame. They must be held accountable for their roles in trying to steal the March 2nd, 2020 General and Regional Elections; they cannot feign innocence.
All the masterminds and intellectual authors of the plot to rig those elections must be brought to justice. They must be accredited with the Order of Disgrace.
Once elections’ results have been certified, laws must be put in place for charges to be brought against anyone for labelling a Government illegal; and for spreading falsehoods, peddling lies, race hate and racism, and for promoting ethnic insecurity.
The people of this country must never again be made to bear that horrendous burden of waiting five months for a President to be sworn in.
Granger, Harmon and the rest of the cabal cannot doubt their roles, their sinister underpinnings in the criminal plot to rig the elections.
They tried to resurrect the Burnham era, a figment of their dirty mindset. They continue to live in a back-in-time mentality, being condemned pathological racists and liars. Fortunately, the world has moved a long way forward. They have become a lost cause and an insult to the very people and supporters they claim to represent.
This Order of Democracy award is a befitting honour for those who traversed the arduous path to uphold democracy. It also serves as a stark reminder of the journey the trail-blazers endured to protect Guyana’s democracy, and exemplifies the resoluteness of the people. We must all together pledge never again for the people of this beautiful country to face such depredation and callousness.
Hats off to all those brave hearts who would be named to receive the Order of Democracy award. Great work!

Respectfully,
Parasram Persaud