Dark times ahead

Dear Editor,
I can only shake my head and sigh with the occurrences of Friday, March 13, 2020. This day is only going to go down as a disappointing, sickening one in the history of this nation. The Returning Officer for Region Four, Mr Clairmont Mingo was supposed to resume the tabulation of the votes using the Statements of Poll in accordance with the ruling of Chief Justice Roxane George.

However, reports from inside the GECOM Command Centre are only foul. Mingo’s “Statements of Poll” showcased massive discrepancies compared to the other party representatives. These “Statements of Poll” only match the copies in possession of the coalition agents. This prompted the foreign observers to simply walk out of the GECOM Command Centre. In a statement from the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Guyana, they deemed the tabulation process by Mingo as not transparent and said that the Region Four results would, therefore, be lacking in credibility. To add salt to the wound, the OAS has decided to withdraw from Guyana.

Such a shame isn’t it? To think, that on March 2, the polling exercise was conducted in a transparent and satisfactory manner. If only the same could be said regarding the tabulation process. It’s pretty obvious by now that the results for Region Four are unlikely to be credible and hence any President sworn in should be deemed illegitimate. Clairmont Mingo is a disgrace to this nation.

My head was shaking in fury on March 5 when reports first started coming out about our elections being hijacked. Today is a different array of emotions. And I do think I speak on behalf of all democracy-loving citizens in this country. My shoulders are now slumped with a disgusted, but disappointed sigh. Today’s events are something hard to wrap my head around. It really does seem as though all hope is lost for this nation.

Do you think I should spell it out? My comrades, we are heading into a dictatorship. Our elections were blatantly and sloppily rigged in favour of the “APNU/AFC” coalition. We are heading back into the dark ages. All the stories that our parents and grandparents told us about the Burnham era are unfolding right before our very eyes. Well, the only thing is that Forbes Burnham was subtle in his rigging of the elections, but that’s because he was a brilliant individual. The likes of which cannot be seen in his current party’s inhabitants.

On another note, to all those coalition supporters who blatantly attack anyone questioning the credibility of the tabulation process and labelling such individuals as “PPP” supporters. You are blind. You cannot process a basic perversion of our democracy.

So, what’s next for Guyana? No hope for now at least. David Granger will most likely be sworn in. The coalition dictatorship will take office, much to the chagrin of many. I urge all distressed and disgruntled individuals to not turn to violence. That is not the way. The fight against injustice can be done peacefully. Peaceful protest is what matters. Even though right now it seems like hope is lost, we must never give up. The fight for what is right will never end. Our dear Martin Carter opened one of his most famous poems with the line “This is the dark time my love”. My comrades, this is the dark time indeed.

Yours faithfully,
Nikhil Sankar