The time for platitudes is over

Dear Editor,

David Granger and APNU+AFC are playing dangerous, puerile and offensive games, in the process, insulting the Guyanese people, treating them as fools and jeopardising the country’s development opportunity, just when Guyana is on the verge of economic transformation. It is time to draw the line – enough is enough. The time for platitudes is over.

Granger and those who are illegally squatting as Ministers in an illegal Cabinet must be isolated. The Guyanese people, as individuals and as groups and institutions, must speak with one voice rejecting the reckless, callous games Granger and APNU+AFC are playing. The international community must choose whether they will stand with the Guyanese people in defence of Guyana’s democracy or will stand on the side of dictatorship. The call for elections to be held in accordance with the constitution must now be backed with tangible actions.

It is now seven months since the deadline for elections (March 21st) expired and we are still uncertain when the constitutionally-mandated elections will be held. Granger’s address to the nation Wednesday night means the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) of December 21st has been totally ignored. After wasting time seeking the judiciary to invalidate the NCM, Granger falsely insisted it is not for him to choose the election date, but up to GECOM. In fact, this is a figment of his stupid, wicked games. Yet, one week since GECOM informed him they would be ready for elections by end of February, he has not call elections. While GECOM’s timeframe heightens Granger’s and APNU+AFC’s breach of the constitution and is far outside the “earliest possible time” the CCJ envisaged, the Guyanese people, like the Leader of the Opposition and the PPP, were willing to go along with that timeline.

It is, therefore, with high hopes that the Guyanese people welcomed the announcement by Granger that he would address the nation on Wednesday evening. However, that hopefulness was quickly dimmed by the disappointing announcement from Granger that while he accepted March 2 was the earliest timeline for elections (GECOM actually indicated February 28), he now claims the actual date for elections cannot be established until the PPP participates in a parliamentary farce to extend the life of government. In again abrogating his constitutional responsibility, he is now insisting the PPP must agree to attend Parliament on October 10 and vote to extend Parliament before he could dissolve Parliament and set a date for elections.

In American football parlance, he ‘punts’ his constitutional responsibility to Bharat Jagdeo and the PPP, except he only wants the PPP to extend the life of his government, not name the elections date. This is offensive. When the three-month period was expiring on March 21st, while Granger and APNU+AFC became engaged in a tortuous and unjustified judicial challenge, he did not think it necessary to obtain Jagdeo’s and the PPP’s support to extend the timeline. When the CCJ ruled on June 18th, necessitating a second deadline of September 18, Granger did not think it necessary for Jagdeo to accommodate the second timeline with a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Why now he wants to invoke the constitutional provisions of extending the timeline with a two-thirds majority?

Pure and simple, the Guyanese people must proclaim as firmly and unambiguously as possible that enough is enough – no more platitudinous statements. Statements must be layered with action. As an illegal government, they must not be allowed to attend official functions of national and local institutions. For example, the Berbice Chambers of Commerce must refrain from having anyone in the illegal APNU+AFC Cabinet as guests at the Berbice Expo’s opening ceremony on Friday afternoon. Other organisations must do the same. Businesses must not allow any one from the illegal cabinet to be entertained and then have bills submitted to Ministries to be paid; those are illegal transactions.

Gas stations must not allow charged arrangements to fill up vehicles used by anyone from the illegal Cabinet. There are varied ways to take action to isolate them.

The international community has to play a role. Prior to 2015, this same international community stoutly posited they have a duty to speak out when they felt government was violating the constitution. None of the international institutions, including embassies and consulate, felt they needed to restrain themselves. It is encouraging that at each stage of the obvious plot to delay elections, through unconstitutional, judicial and extrajudicial actions, the ABCE countries have made strong statements of condemnation. But these statements have not motivated Granger and APNU+AFC to do the right thing. Now it is high time these statements are backed up by stern actions, such as suspension of all grants and loan arrangements, non-invitation to events hosted by these countries and suspension or withdrawal of visas, etc.

Mr. Granger must act in accordance with his constitutional duty and set a date for elections now. Any further delay intensifies the dictatorship, which now strangles our country. While we await domestic and international institutions to match their statements with action, the Guyanese people will not be intimidated and will not give up hope. They will peacefully protest and ensure it is not business as usual. Mr. Granger may deem them hooligans, but the people’s brave fight for freedom and democracy will not diminish. They will hound Granger wherever he goes, until he names a date for elections.

Dr. Leslie Ramsammy