Very ominous signs: time for democratic forces to stand up (Pt 1)

Dear Editor,
Over the last two weeks or so, we have seen some developments that do not spell well for the future of our nation. It appears that we are rapidly returning to the worst days of the 1970s and 1980s.
These matters have emerged from developments in the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and in the ruling of the Court in relation to the legality of the process by which the Chairman of GECOM, Mr James Patterson, was appointed.
The Chairman of GECOM tried to muzzle Commissioner Robeson Benn from speaking. Mr Benn raised the issue of the racial imbalance of the composition of the staff at GECOM. He pointed out that it was about 90% African Guyanese, and tried to make a case that GECOM, a constitutional body, should reflect our population in a much better way. This matter is rather urgent, since we know that there exist grounds to believe that the last elections were manipulated from within the Commission with the use of fake statements of poll. It appears to have been an inside job. That matter is in Court, but is not being called up.
That raised the ire of the Chairman, who stopped him from speaking.
Now, let us be clear here. The Guyana Elections Commission, more than any other single institution, is at the centre of our country’s democratic wellbeing. It is tasked with ensuring that periodic elections in Guyana are free and fair both in substance and appearance. To accomplish this task, GECOM has a responsibility to harness and maintain public confidence in all that it does.
It was to achieve that goal that the procedure for establishing the Commission was designed.
The Chairperson, it was expected, would have been chosen by a consensual mechanism. Unfortunately, that mechanism was thrown out by the President. Mr. Patterson was not appointed by consensus. He is the nominee of President Granger, who is also the Leader of the PNC/APNU. Given the tenuous circumstances under which Mr Patterson was appointed, and the number of prominent and eminent Guyanese who were overlooked and unceremoniously discarded by the President and Leader of the PNC/APNU to facilitate his selection, one would have thought that he would have made a special effort to demonstrate to all and sundry that the fears regarding his appointment were unfounded.
Instead, by his action in trying to muzzle Commissioner Benn from raising real and legitimate concerns of the Commission’s composition, he has shown that the fears regarding his appointment are indeed very well founded.
Mr Patterson has displayed his belief that we are back to the period of the 1970s and 1980s, when GECOM facilitated the most massive and fraudulent elections.
The concerns raised by Mr Benn have been left unaddressed.
After that incident, Mr Patterson has become even more biased in his actions.

Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
Former President