…is watching Granger rig
Granger is surely not a fan of Shaggy ‘cause he’s made sure he’ll never be able to sing the big fella’s greatest hit, “Wasn’t me!!!” When Burnham was rigging elections, Granger was in the barracks, and probably didn’t get to witness first-hand the array of slick methods the master rigger used – other than having soldiers hauling ballot boxes to their HQ. And shooting citizens who got in their way – which Granger judged to be “admirable”!!
So here it was, Granger decided to rig his first elections by a method so blatant, so…well…stupid!…he’s been left like a deer caught in headlights. Or maybe a better analogy would be like a schoolboy caught with his hand in the cookie jar!! After all, unlike Burnham, who decided not to accredit international observers – saying those from the US and UK better look after electoral problems in their countries – he allowed a veritable who’s who of Observer Missions!! US (Carter Center), EU, the big enchilada – the OAS – and the Commonwealth among dozens.
Now, for the first part of the process – compiling the voters’ list – the observers weren’t around yet, but Granger stuck to the Burnham script by trying a bit of padding (Haitians, and inflating the age of a few thousand) and a bit of messing with the PPP support base addresses etc. On the day of voting, Monday, things went comparatively smoothly. So did the long-fought-for “counting at the place of polls! So far, so good. Full marks for Granger from the Observers!!
It was the next day that Granger started to show his hand. The next step was the collation of SOPs at a Returning Officer office in each Region. Now Guyana has some far-flung regions and when the count started to come in the very next day, Tuesday, from them but not Region 4, which is the most easily accessible location of Georgetown and its environs, some old hands started to smell a rat. When the GECOM staff said they were tired early Tuesday night, even the Observers thought it was funny.
When the RO didn’t show up till past midday the next day, they knew something was definitely amiss. And so it continued. The RO falling ill, the flash drive disappearing, and then suddenly the RO finding the strength to lustily shout the “Result” from a balcony – without following the set procedures of the statute, as had the other regions, the foreign missions were up in arms for being taken for a ride.
The icing on the cake was the Foreign Minister dragging all of them into a room and saying she’d been ordered to revoke their accreditation!!
Their hackles were truly now raised!!
…but now condemning
Back in the day when Burnham was busy with his rigging, not even next door Caricom paid heed. We weren’t worth the bother after he’d sunk us to Haiti’s depths? Or was it the brotherhood? So maybe it’s because of our 8-billion-barrels-of-oil and counting, but as soon as it became obvious that Granger was up to no good with the Reg 4 results, all hell broke loose (when you consider how diplomats speak!!) from the Foreign Observers camp and the Embassies of the western powers!!
After all, back in Burnham days, even after Lord Avebury of the British Parliamentary Human Rights Group called his elections “more crooked than barbed wire”, their Embassy didn’t offer a squeak. But seems like “dis time na laang time”!! Guess oil talks and poverty walks!! Your Eyewitness is bowled over by the breath of the condemnation of the Granger Administration (diplomatically speaking!!) for their trying to do the dirty on the elections. The ABCE Embassies, Congressmen, Senators, US Secretary of State, Caricom, Mia Mottley…the list goes on and on.
Even Norway!
…will act??
Remember that old nursery school rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me”?? Well, it was Burnham’s motto.
So the condemning countries better start thrown some sticks and stones!!
