Political and legal manoeuvres in Guyana reek of foreign influence

Dear Editor,
The December 2018 successful No-Confidence Motion against the APNU/AFC-led Government spawned unprecedented political, constitutional and legal challenges, most of which ended, either satisfactory or unsatisfactory, by the courts, or with the pronouncement of, and gazetted date for the new elections. However, a scrutiny of the tactics employed by APNU and GECOM during the course of 2019, as well as those that have been springing up in the wake of the March 2, 2020 General Elections reveals a common trend, the elements of which have comprised the behaviour of influential international conglomerates and multinational corporations.

In light thereof, it would not be unreasonable to infer foreign influence on our sociopolitical and legal landscape from January 2019 to the present. While such influence may not necessarily stem from direct involvement of foreign power(s), it may have emanated from the behaviour of the big league corporations and conglomerates over the last few decades. Time and again, they find themselves facing new regulations and other real and perceived domestic and international challenges, such as interference with their profitability, or perceived unfriendly political changes/regimes.

In such instances, these big-league entities would resort to self-preservation mechanisms, such as, (a) endurance and delaying tactics which include the use of expensive legal resources to prolong litigation by raising as many motions and technicalities as possible;
(b) continuous lobbying and the use of corporate wealth and political connections to undermine the will of legislators and regulators to enact and or enforce the legal provisions;
(c) tactics of secrecy and deception about ownership and control, and ‘sweetheart’ deals and contracts to prevent exposing the violations and make them more difficult to prove; and
(d) threats of economic consequences to the local communities and the national economy.

Anyone examining the tactics used by foreign corporations should not find difficulty in establishing the close resemblance and similarities to the tactics and mechanisms applied by APNU and GECOM.

In addition to the blatant disregard for the constitutional provisions and regulations governing the electoral procedures, they have resorted to tactics of deception, endurance and delays. They have refused to complete the verification and reconciliation of the Statements of Poll, and they have been running to the court for flimsy reasons. Furthermore, it is believed that they have engineered the circulation of messages informing/warning Guyanese about the consequences of international sanctions, and encouraging them not to support calls for sanctions.

By way of conclusion, it is unfortunate for Guyanese that the coronavirus epidemic hit at this time; it is helping the APNU-GECOM delaying tactics. These political and legal deceptive and delay tactics have tested our tolerance over the last year, and continue to do so today. In essence, these foreign orchestrated tactics have stalled progress and prolonged our political and economic agony.

Sincerely,
Ronald Singh, LLM,
MS
Barrister and solicitor