Dear Editor,
It is time that Granger and his gang of blatant riggers come to the full realisation that the world will not tolerate the making of another dictator and despotic regime in Guyana. The days of Burnhamism effectively came to an end in October 1992, thanks to the Carter Center, the USA, and other countries which stood to uphold democracy.
The Carter Center, in its Report after the 1992 Elections, had categorically stated that: “For the first time in 28 years, all of the political parties of Guyana and the international observers agreed that the election was free and fair”.
In the foreword of that Report, former President Jimmy Carter made a solemn promise to the people of Guyana. He concluded by stating thus: “We, the members of the Council, consider ourselves privileged to have had a chance to help the people of Guyana find their path toward democracy, and we remain ready to be helpful as it moves down that path”.
Unfortunately, members of the Carter Center team were not allowed to conclude their observer mission when they were shamelessly blocked from entering the country despite numerous requests from the US, Canada, UK, UN and the OAS, among others. The COVID-19 was used by the desperate Coalition despite assurances that the Carter Center would comply with all the safety requirements, but what is most ironic is the number one reason proffered by de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Karen Cummings for debarring the Carter Center.
Cummings had identified Caricom as “the most legitimate interlocutors in the Guyana situation…and that Guyana…is confident in the legitimacy, credibility and competence of the Caricom Team to perform its task”. She was adamant that these legitimate reasons must be respected.
As was played out later, this was just a deceitful ploy to get rid of the Carter Center. The Government felt that, without the Center, they could rig the Elections with impunity, since Granger underestimated Caricom’s commitment to a fair and credible election.
After the Recount, the Coalition began a barefaced and flagrant attack on “the most legitimate interlocutors”. The Caricom High Level Team had dared to pronounce that the 2020 Election was free, fair and credible, and that the recount figures reflected the will of the people of Guyana.
Those Recount figures showed a victory and overall majority for the PPP/C by over 15,000 votes. This did not find favour with the Coalition, and they singled out Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, for harsh personal attacks. CARICOM thus ceased to be “the legitimate interlocutor”.
I am sure that Caricom will support any measures imposed to stop these attempts by the Coalition to rig.
Heedless of the agonising cries of the Guyanese people for justice, and ignoring the severe and clear warnings of the US, UK, Canada, the EU, and other countries, including many local and international organizations, the Coalition went full steam ahead and intensified its efforts to rig the elections after the RECOUNT, using the courts and the GECOM CEO, who produced a potpourri of fraudulent reports.
The latest court circus to block the declaration based on the Recount figures will not fool anyone anymore, since the CCJ had ruled definitively that “unless and until an election court decides otherwise, the votes already counted by the recount process as valid votes are incapable of being declared invalid by any person or authority”.
The international community cannot be hoodwinked and made to stand passively by and believe the Granger cabal about there being no Executive interference in the GECOM CEO’s many attempts to declare the Coalition as the winner. Granger’s hooliganism is now universal knowledge. The CEO and the REO for Region 4 have worked tirelessly to hijack the results of the 2020 Elections on behalf of the Coalition.
By what stretch of the imagination can Granger exhort the world to believe him?
After months of agony, Guyanese have felt safe once again, because the US has led the fight for democracy in Guyana, giving life to the promise made by former President Carter in the aftermath of the 1992 Elections. We do hope that the UK, Canada, EU and CARICOM will follow, and impose tangible sanctions against those who have been undermining our democracy.
Revocation of visas must be followed by the freezing of assets, which from all appearances have been acquired illegally since 2015.
Granger should listen to the ‘benefits’ of sanctions, which he outlined in his speech as Opposition Leader in 2015, and learn a lesson. He highlighted that sanctions are necessary to change a Government’s undemocratic behaviour, so why is he upset now that his advice has been taken?
Joseph Harmon needs to understand that trees which do not bend are normally uprooted in a storm. That storm is coming! Granger and his cabal will be uprooted!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
