Dictatorship once again….

Dear Editor,
It is common knowledge that a country’s Constitution is the supreme law of the land which every President, Prime Minister, Minister of Government and Member of Parliament have sworn to uphold, and it is sacrosanct and must be unreservedly respected at all times. This is so since it lays out the procedure for the establishment of laws and the administration of the country; it is the bed rock of the Government and it zealously protects the rights of the citizens of the country and limits the Government through a series of checks and balances. Any government which operates above the Constitution will be stepping into the realm of a dictatorship.

Unfortunately, never in the history of Guyana has a President and its Government treated our Constitution with such grave and blatant disdain, disrespect and contempt as if it’s a set of rules on a washroom’s wall! Imagine such contemptuousness and scornfulness emanating from a man whom some claimed was anointed by some higher being to rule Guyana. Yet, every time he speaks and he assures the people that he will respect the Constitution, he then did his trademark ‘about turn’.

This has been happening since his illegal and unilateral appointment of Patterson as the GECOM’s Chairman but became more pronounced after the NCM on December 21, 2018. Imagine, it took the CCJ to point out this illegality, yet he was adamant that he was legally correct. Since then, he has intentionally trampled on the Constitution and the CCJ’s ruling whilst repeating his vacuous rhetoric about respecting the Constitution and the rule of law.
The indisputable characteristics of a dictator! Guyanese have still not forgotten the Burnham’s dictatorship and now his disciple wants to unleash the same on this nation. Guyanese had seen 23 years of democratic rule and enormous socio-economic development and will never tolerate any form of dictatorship again.

Not only Guyanese saw this. In March this year, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Nikiko Tanaka, made a strong statement which should have been heeded by Granger with great alacrity when he pronounced that, “recent political developments triggered by the no-confidence vote in the National Assembly are a test for Guyana’s strength and integrity with regard to the effectiveness of the rule of law and governance”. This coalition Government has miserably failed that ‘test’.

Moreover, it was since March as well that the US Ambassador, HE Sarah-Ann Lynch, spoke about the need for free and fair elections and the EU since February this year spoke about the need for constitutional compliance and respect for the rule of law as the corollary to free and fair elections. Undoubtedly, these people saw a certain ominous trend emerging and were subtly guiding the coalition. Unfortunately, they did ignore the inherent warning.

Then, the diplomacy was dropped by the United States, the UK and the EU after the surpassing of the September 18 deadline! They unequivocally stated in a joint statement that, “ the Government is in breach of the Constitution following its failure to adhere to the decisions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on June 18 and its subsequent orders”.

This was followed by a statement by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, who called for the restoration of constitutional rule and brought to fore the fact that General Elections in Guyana is now constitutionally overdue. Other local bodies such as FITUG, the Bar Association, IAC, GCCI, AmCham, CIOG, and the Zadok Ministers Fellowship among others reiterate this clarion call for Granger to respect the Constitution and set a date for the General and Regional Elections. Additionally and above all, the Guyanese people have demanded through nationwide protests and demonstrations that Granger and his caretaker Government respect our Constitution and the CCJ’s rulings. All of these would have seemed to bore dividends.

Granger had finally agreed to address the date for elections after consultation with his ‘Cabinet’ and a meeting with the Chairman of GECOM. He claimed on Wednesday morning that he was seeking more information before he moves to dissolve Parliament. But the euphoria was short lived! I was sure that this was just another in his interminable series of vacillations to avoid elections for as long as possible regardless of who says what! This was exactly what he did on Wednesday when he addressed the Guyanese nation and dropped the bombshell!

He said that, “I am pleased to announce that…the earliest date for the holding of General and Regional Elections will be Monday, 2nd March, 2020”. His outright lies, half-truths and wholesale deceit have once again exposed the hallmarks of a true dictator! Now he has attached another senseless condition to his ‘election date setting’ charade. He now demands that the Opposition extends the life of Parliament and by extension, his illegal Government, so that he could legalise his illegalities perpetuated so far. He is still in gross violation of the CCJ’s rulings and our Constitution, yet again he denies!

Granger needs to understand that he must respect the intelligence of the Guyanese populace. We are not fools and he cannot continue to hold this nation hostage by his nonsensical semantics in his inane quest for absolute power. Indeed, the meandered legal process travelled by the Granger’s Administration are indeed ‘frivolous and aimed at delaying the consequences of the No-Confidence Motion’. No other interpretation is possible! His Government has lost and he must accept that to preserve whatever shred of dignity he has remaining.

This political hopscotching by Granger to extend his Government’s life will continue as the condemnation locally and internationally gains momentum which will finally result in economic sanctions against Guyana. Unfortunately, again the Guyanese people will suffer. History has a way of repeating itself, but this time, the ejection process will be faster than in 1992 when the PNC had to accede to free and fair elections in fear of the international economic guillotine!
There is still time to avoid an economic crisis Mr Granger!

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf