Step aside now! Another President needs to take over

Dear Editor,
Allow me to say, “Thank you,” to the small opposition political parties for their significant efforts, commitment, support to the PPP/C and the people of Guyana to ensure democracy and the will of the people be respected and reflected by a declaration using the figures generated from the Recount exercise.
These parties have proven, during these last 19 weeks, that it is not the amount of votes you capture, but the will and fight for political freedom and democracy.

The APNU/AFC, in leaving office, must take a page from your parties’ operational manuals with them. The Guyanese population is back on the legal merry-go-round, episode of the political soap opera that is Guyana’s election. The APNU/AFC and their controlling faction, the PNCR, have allowed the election situation in Guyana to become a political circus of tiresome ploys in order to hold on to power in this country. Guyana has not had a parliament for a year and a half.

The patience of the Guyanese people and the regional and international communities has become exhausted. Not surprisingly, action is now being taken in frustration over the recalcitrance of officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the caretaker Government.

The APNU/AFC, PNCR leadership, MPs, and others upon whom the US Government has imposed visa restrictions because they “have been responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Guyana” have brought this upon themselves, as they have brought the humiliation to our great Guyana. The fact that, because of privacy laws, the persons have not been officially named should be no comfort to anyone. It is the beginning of sanctions that would be graduated in proportion to further violations of democracy and the rule of law.

Guyanese, we all know it has been more than 19 weeks since the general and regional elections took place here in Guyana. There is yet to be a resolution, despite a full election recount and a ruling by Guyana’s apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice, that the National vote Recount should be used to declare the winner. Both local and international observers stated that GECOM ran an election day that was free, fair and credible. The same was said about the Recount, with Caricom observers, called the most “credible interlocutors,” stating that nothing precluded GECOM from declaring a winner using the figures from the National vote Recount.

No disrespect, David Granger; this is no disrespect, but could you “Step aside” now! another President needs to take over. The Guyanese people have exercised their civic right, and they deserve to be heard. But, due to continued electoral improprieties, the people have NOT been heard after 19 weeks.

The international community has been clear that it stands with the Guyanese people, and that there would be consequences for individuals who seek to undermine democracy. More than 130 countries are represented through various statements from the OAS, Commonwealth, CARICOM, the EU, as well as multiple bilateral messages and calls for the process to be free and fair.

The events following the March 2 elections, some of these statements indicate that there are forces and elements that have repeatedly refused to accept the will of the people. Guyana’s non-democratic trajectory is dangerous for its citizens and for the southern hemisphere as a whole.

I hope the APNU/AFC/PNCR leaders and supporters understand what is at stake if they continue down this path, dishonouring and disrespecting the people of Guyana, the international communities and the rule of law.
Guyanese, you have shown remarkable patience, you deserve freedom from the suffocating circumstances into which we have been plunged. And when Dr Irfaan Ali and a People’s Progressive Party government get into office, I assure you that the PPP/C government will honour the Guyanese people by delivering good governance and policies of equality and transparency that tolerate no form of discrimination. But before all these things can happen, a declaration must be made, and I encourage all Guyanese to lend support to our GECOM Chairperson, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh. She is a person of utmost integrity, and is a distinguished jurist who has given decades of her life in service to our country. We must speak out on her behalf, and allow her to continue her work and bring this electoral process to closure.

Chief Justice Roxane George hears yet another legal petition with oral arguments. This one was filed against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) shortly before the Commission was expected to take a decisive step in bringing Guyana out of the electoral limbo in which it has been trapped since the general election of March 2, 2020.
The petition was filed by a private citizen, Misenga Jones, who is asking the court to declare as unconstitutional the decision by GECOM and Chairman Claudette Singh to use the vote recount as the basis for declaring the winner of the election.

Sincerely,
David Adams