Dear Sir,
I AM paying attention to the utterances of different groups and individuals on the on-going electoral processes for Guyana’s general and regional elections 2020, in the public sphere. It seems to be part of a massive conspiracy unfolding against a particular race of people. It is sad but we all must be very strong in mind and spirit, and equip ourselves as leaders of our communities and the nation as a whole. This is the only path to great success of our beloved Guyana.
Consider, for example, statements by the Private Sector Commission against the Guyana Police Force: “ Private Sector urges police to act impartially,” newsroom.gy, March 18, 2020, the GCCI: “GCCI condemns interference in electoral process” Inewsguyana.com, March 18, 2020… Major General(Retired) Joe Singh: “ Former Army chief Joe Singh writes open letter to President” newsroom.gy, March 18, 2020, and Mr. Seelall Persaud DSM MBA, Retired Commissioner of Police: “ Let us not throw our honour to the dogs”- fmr. Top Cop urges GPF” Inewsguyana.com, March 18, 2020. Quite frankly, I wonder about the metaphor: “… honour to the dogs”. Let me make two comments:
First, all of the above-mentioned groups and individuals have made no bones about their support for and loyalty to a particular political party. Therefore, one could hardly expect them to be objective; all of their statements demonstrate a bias against the APNU+AFC. Second, those statements were published by media owned by members of, or individuals affiliated to a particular political party, in Guyana. Those statements, no doubt, appear to be aimed at the international community, to give a certain negative impression about what is happening in Guyana. Of course, we who live here know better and are very much aware of the truth.
The truth is, the PSC, GCCI, Joe Singh, and Mr. Seelall Persaud are hypocritical in words and deeds. None of those organisations and individuals condemned the rancorous and dangerous invasion of the Guyana Elections Commission’s command centre, on High Street, last week. Even now, they have said nothing about it. In fact, members of the PSC and GCCI were part of that invasion, in which there was damage to property and physical abuse of police ranks and staff of the Election Commission. To date, no one has been arrested for that illegal activity. Nor have they commented on brutish incidents in communities on the East Coast of Demerara, in which children were hurt. Yet, they have the boldness and temerity to publicly call on the police to act professionally, when all that the police is trying to do is to be professional in their conduct and behaviour ,in this situation, created by some of the very people who are now calling on the police to do better. The silence of these organisations and individuals call into question their sincerity and commitment to put Guyana on a trajectory of progress and success.
Finally, the PSC, GCCI, and their cohorts appear to have preempted the outcome of elections long before its conclusion, and it seeking to influence those elections in a particular way. No court of law has adjudged the elections to be fraudulent, in any way. In fact, there has been no elections petition, and even in the case of the injunction before the chief justice last week, no evidence of electoral fraud was presented by anyone. But somehow, those organisations and individuals have already determined that the elections were rigged. These are some of those who have paid lobbyists to talk about sanctions against Guyana for electoral fraud, when our courts have not even heard any petition on any such matter. I call upon our community and national leaderships to be strong, and destroy this very evil plot to submerge the will of the people, by certain political and oppositional forces hard at work, to take power by using elements of the international community, who have been hoodwinked into believing a lie, spread wide and far, by certain creatures of greed and wickedness in our society. Guyana is a functioning democracy: our courts are functioning upholding the laws of this country; our democratic institutions are working. Let us regard the sanctity of our sovereignty.
Regards
Gregory Howe
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_03_19_2020