Guyana’s situation infectious; sanctions necessary – Chris Ram

Attorney-at-Law and anti-corruption advocate, Christopher Ram supports sanctions on offenders of Guyana’s democracy as he believes it is in the interest of the international community not to allow the theft of elections to infect the global community.

The United States has announced visa restrictions for those persons undermining Guyana’s democracy, and those complicit in such undermining.
The United Kingdom and Canada had signaled that they intend to use the tools available to them as well, to remedy the situation that threatens Guyana’s democracy.
“For more reasons than one, I do not celebrate sanctions,” Ram said in a letter published in the local newspaper. Expounding further, the transparency advocate added, “(I) do believe that problems concerning Guyana should be solved in Guyana. But I do not accept that the theft of an election is a purely domestic matter since it infects and infests all with whom it comes into contact. It is for that reason and that reason alone that I support sanctions. Bullies, cheats and thieves must realise that evil does not pay.”

The fear, once considered scaremongering, that APNU would not give up power seems validated now, Ram said. This is evident, in his view, by the many court cases which followed the no confidence motion, and which continue to frustrate the declaration of the results of the elections.

Chief Justice (Acting), Roxane George-Wiltshire had said in her ruling in the case of Misenga Jones vs GECOM et al that persons cannot be allowed to waste the Court’s precious time and resources on matters already adjudicated.
The Coalition has claimed that its sustained challenges in the Court are about ensuring adherence to the Constitution and the law, even as it endorses a fraudulent declaration produced by Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo as part of the basis on which a final declaration is made. Ram is adamant however that the coalition’s legal games are about lawlessness, not the law.

“It is not about the fairness of elections,” he continued, “it is about the rigging of elections. It is not about conceding to whom or conceding to what. It is a power grab, an electoral coup, the attempted entrenchment of a dictatorship where one group considers itself superior and another inferior.”
Ram noted that the international community is not fooled by APNU+AFC tactics as some sections of the Guyanese populace may be, nor are they as patient.

For one, the Organization of American States (OAS) has had discussions about the Guyana situation, and has adjourned its most recent meeting to an undetermined date. It has warned Guyana that a declaration of the recount results is the only acceptable option.
Guyana could find itself, Ram worried, more isolated than Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe or any other country in the world.

In addition to explaining his position on the said sanctions, Ram examined the tainted image of President, David Granger, explaining that it has become littered with ‘constitutional violations, corruption, cynicism, ethnic preferences, waste and extravagance, arrogance and delusion.”
He is of the view that Granger seems determined to take the country down a “black hole”.
He also condemned APNU+AFC’s campaign manager, Joseph Harmon who has condemned current and former CARICOM leaders for speaking in support of a democratic resolution to Guyana’s electoral process.