David Granger, step down; President Irfaan Ali, your time is here

BY: JB

The people of Guyana spoke loud and clear, unambiguously – they want a new President and a new Government. More than 450,000 Guyanese went to the polls on March 2. They rejected David Granger’s demand for a second term and their voice was clear – they want Dr Irfaan Ali as their President. David Granger presented himself as a decent, honest man with integrity. His record falls short of these lofty qualities. But he has one more chance to earn people’s respect and to prove he is honest and decent and has integrity – step down and honour the voice of the people. More than 233,000 voted for Irfaan Ali and the PPP. The ballots remain the genuine voice of the people and none of us must seek to diminish its power. For those charlatans who keep wanting to disregard the ballots, there is a word for it – dictatorship. Guyana rejects dictatorship.

It is now a hundred days since the elections. The time for a legitimate government to be sworn in is now, no more delays. The recount, through the Statements of Recount (SoRs), has confirmed that the results of the original count on the evening of March 2 and enshrined in the Statements of Poll (SoPs) were accurate and reflected no jiggery-pokery. In fact, other than determining a few rejected ballots were actual valid ballots, the recount showed that the GECOM staff and the representatives of the political parties did a remarkable job on Election Day and during the recount. GECOM has accommodated David Granger and APNU/AFC beyond reasonableness, and it is now time for them to end the charade. We have come to the end of this particular road and GECOM must do its job – declare the results and allow the swearing-in of President Irfaan Ali.

From long before the elections, from their actions and their history, we knew David Granger and APNU/AFC would not easily demit office and would ensure they stayed in power through one or more of the ballots, bottlenecks and bullyism. The ballots did not work for them. The people of Guyana used the ballots to reject both Granger and APNU/AFC. The people used their ballots to choose Dr Irfaan Ali as their President and to have the PPP as their Government. By a clear majority, the people have spoken. For those sycophants who now advocate throwing away the ballots and having an interim government until a new election, the ballots represent the power of the people and cannot be discarded at the whims and fancies of charlatans.

When Granger was going to be sworn in on fraudulent results on March 5 and March 13, none of the charlatans spoke of interim and national front governments. What they want is to have a Granger-led government either through the ballots or through any other means. Having been rejected through the ballots, the sycophants want to use other means to their ends. But that road for them does not exist.

Granger and APNU/AFC created a multitude of bottlenecks and bullying tactics for the March 2020 elections, just in case the ballots did not work to their favour. When in June 2018 Granger illegally appointed James Patterson as GECOM’s Chair, it was a bullying tactic to ensure he controlled the electoral machinery to rig the elections. While he was forced to let go Patterson, after the CCJ declared Patterson’s appointment unconstitutional, Granger did succeed in taking control of the GECOM Secretariat. The replacement of Vishnu Persaud with Roxanne Myers as the Deputy Chief Elections Officer was designed to ensure there was a rigging cabal within GECOM. The attempted hijacking of the Region Four election results nearly succeeded because of this rigging cabal in the Secretariat of GECOM for which Mingo served as its tool.

When they brought the court into the No Confidence Motion, it was the bottleneck they created to extend their time in office. When they sought to use the courts to abort the Caricom-brokered recount, it was a bottleneck designed to keep them in office. The courts offered only fleeting delays to the recount, so they delayed the process by asking for 156 days for the recount. That too was rejected by the vast majority of the Guyanese people who made it known on social media and in public declarations that the 156 days was like a coup. We ended up with 25 days and then an additional eight days for the recount. Now GECOM has to move on with the declaration of the winner. But we should all not hold our breath, because I am certain Granger and his cabal have more tricks in their bags of bottlenecks and bullying tactics. Even as we await GECOM’s declaration, the majority of Guyanese expect Granger and APNU/AFC will seek to use the courts to buy them more time.

But at a time when Guyana is bleeding, our economy reeling, people suffering, too many Guyanese unemployed, businesses stagnant, when Guyana needs a legitimate government, it is time for all to see that the road to dictatorship has come to an end. The time to swear in our new President is now. Welcome President Irfaan Ali.