We must first settle the winner of the election and then revamp the Winner Takes All system

Dear Editor,

Our country is reeling from two major pandemics the COVID-19 and the APNU+AFC election virus.

We are in limbo as we stay put and contemplate the devastation of both.

Guyana is a most fragile Republic and does not at this time have the capacity to withstand the consequences of either. We are held hostage by both and will suffer one way or the other from the inevitable destruction they will leave in their respective paths.

Currently, we do not have vaccines for either other than to take whatever sensible precautions we can to save ourselves.

In my view, the APNU+AFC election virus is the most dangerous since it is us the Guyanese people alone who will have to develop the cure while with COVID-19 the entire world is putting its scientific resources to find a solution and ultimately will.

As with all epidemics it does matter how it got started but those facts will help inform science in their quest to find the antidote.

In the case of the  APNU+AFC  election virus  they claim that GECOM  is the source of the problem but it does not altogether remove  its  link to that body who in the eyes of the Guyanese people, who while not scientist are not dummies either.

COVID-19 will come and go leaving a destructive trail and will pass while the APNU+AFC election virus will be longer lasting and remain with us long after we have forgotten COVID-19 if we do not take the necessary measures to prevent its recurrence now.

However, having said all that we must first settle the number one issue which is to bring closure to the 2020 elections by declaring the rightful winners and by installing the duly and legally elected Government in accordance with the SOP’s as agreed by all observers and shared by the respective parties and which must of course include the contentious Region 4 ballots.

These things being done it would be folly for all concerned to ignore the call for a revamping of the current “Winner Takes All “which is at the core of the contention.

I just read a comment by GHK Lall titled `Pathway to Power Sharing’ in which he made some very good suggestions as it relates to shared Governance and which stipulated a two-year time frame in which to, as he said, put in place a process to resolve the many disputes which are sure to arise and to help lay the groundwork for measuring the rate and degree of progress.

I know that there are many who disagree with GHK’s opinions but I find that this one in particular is worth trying if not in its entirety, in part with whatever modification or suggestions by stakeholders and Civic Society.

History has shown us time and again that if we do not deal with this problem in its present form the monster will most likely awake again in 2025 to once again terrify the people of this beautiful little space on earth we know as Guyana and home.

Yours faithfully,

B. A. Ramsay