Dear Editor,
The commandeering of the process in the build-up to the release of the Revised List of Electors (RLE) has been less than acceptable to the public at large, given the laws, established precedence and practice over the numerous held elections. There have been numerous Commission meetings held, which have given the overwhelming focus on the List and its composition.
As important as this actually is, GECOM should have already decisively dealt with this matter. With elections imminent, there is no indication that GECOM is giving due diligence to other critically important matters that should be addressed in a parallel manner. Citizens and political parties demand no further surprises.
It is pass the time when GECOM should have advised the public and political parties as key stakeholders of their approach to the transparent hiring of key staff necessary to work at the upcoming elections. GECOM is also outstanding on the need to address the necessary matters of training, for which there should be a sense of satisfactory status that the incumbent selected persons, given the approved evaluation criteria.
Further, more than four months have passed since the Claims and Objections; and the previous truncated House-to-House Registration, from which the Commission disappointingly ordered the inclusion of unverified persons on the recently issued Revised List of Electors. Yet, GECOM has not issued a single ID card for the activities, which is absolutely outlandish and preposterous.
Over the past 12 months, Guyanese would have witnessed a justified, augmented and challenging political presence, which has finally graduated to the final red-carpet countdown on the long-overdue General and Regional Elections.
The orchestrated period of undue deliberate delays towards enforced early elections has breached our constitutional norms. Its design, however, has precedence in the historical unwelcoming behaviour of the PNC as the main party in the coalition. The time has finally run out on this Grange- led melodrama period and their desperate damage control attempts, for which citizens must hold this cabal accountable.
There is no doubt that following the exposure of the APNU/AFC empty promises and orchestrated violent attacks on citizens, the patience and frustrations of the majority are very thinly stretched. The most glaring abuses of citizens’ constitutional rights in decades have been central to the Granger-led APNU/AFC approach, which currently inundates the Guyana political landscape. In the most vulgar and fraudulent ways, the exploitations have punctuated the entire period of governance since May 2015.
Since the successful December 21, 2018 No-Confidence Motion (NCM) that toppled the Government, the illegal cabal has overwhelmingly violated their caretaker status. They have intensified the deliberate and continuous use of flagrant manipulative elements to extend their stay in office for more than one year over the constitutionally approved period.
The situation necessitated sustained interventions from the PPP/C team led by Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and Presidential Candidate Dr Irfan Ali, who has been at the forefront of the challenge and fight for the restoration of the quickly eroding democracy.
Behind the scenes, many have put in welcoming immeasurable efforts, which is highly appreciated. This column, therefore, takes the opportunity to welcome and congratulate former army chief, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark A Phillips MSS, MSc, on his support to the party and recent selection as the esteemed prime ministerial candidate.
Contrary to the failed, fraud-filled dictatorship driven approach of the Granger-led APNU/AFC regime, the PPP/C team under the astute leadership of Jagdeo and Dr Ali, has advanced transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness in a manifested charter for national development. Comparatively, the facts and APNU/AFC track record confirm that they have a focus on taking partisan advantage of the gullible and ill-informed voter, through shallow and clandestine propaganda.
Given their unfairly demonstrated propensity to utilise State resources to this effect, it necessitates now, a strategic approach involving every civil member of society and party members to get the fact and message over to the wider population.
It cannot be denied that the PPP/C team seems well poised and prepared for these elections and there is much evidence to support the view that the majority of citizens nation-wide. A confirmation of this is obvious from a follow up on massive wins in the last two Local Government Elections, together with the widely known fact that the party’s machinery has been hard at work on the ground in and out of communities.
Representatives of the party have held hundreds of bottom house meetings and these must continue in realising the overarching macro thinking and establishment of a national partnership front, with the thematic goal of “let’s do it together”.
Notwithstanding, this column advocates as a timely reminder of critical imperatives for all stakeholders that the 2020 elections strategy must be comprehensive and leave no stones unturned. Considered focal areas must include:
* Review of past strategies targeting the upgrade of more effective approaches regarding the undecided and first-time voters.
* Testing what we do and its impact on what we want to achieve by community, constituency and regionally.
* Leaders being aware of the peculiarities regarding specific constituencies in terms of numbers, voting patterns, demographic shifts, and new boundaries.
* Conducting timely self-assessment in determining where we are to address areas for improvement and further attention.
* Ensuring the involvement of every hard-core member; collaborating with the NDCs and civil supporters in advancing the understanding and message.
* Managing for results, which is now becoming increasing relevant and important, especially after the NCM of December 2018.
Although the foregoing is not expansive, this column will address key elements in future articles. Nevertheless, the ‘power at all cost, regardless’ approach of the Granger cabal has been widely rejected and this time around, citizens are much more wary of their guile and proven deceitfulness. The PPP/C, however, must be smart and remain relevant in helping voters and citizens in identifying treachery. Let’s do it together!
Sincerely,
Neil Kumar
