ON the night of Wednesday, March4, 2020, nothing could have prepared the Guyana Elections Commission for the events that would soon transpire; events that would completely derail an elections process that was deemed “free”, “fair” and “smooth” by electors, officials and observers up until that point.
On the night of Wednesday, March 4, and on Thursday, March 5, 2020, an invasion occurred right on our very own shores here in Guyana. The invasion occurred at the GECOM Media and Tabulations Office on High and Hadfield Streets in Georgetown, and was led by none other than former President of Guyana and Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo. Mr. Jagdeo, along with known People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) operatives, among them a known former member of the reputed ‘phantom death squad’ and accompanying cronies, descended upon the unsuspecting staff at GECOM. The PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali was also in the company of the group as they instituted what could only be described as a concerted effort to intimidate, obstruct and derail proceedings at the GECOM HQ. The video footage which surfaced shortly after the commotion and melee which ensued leaves much to be desired by way of due process, law and order and general standards of conduct of right-minded citizens and officials.
The video footage of the events of March 4 and 5 are both shocking and horrifying in their depiction of overt verbal and physical aggression on the part of the PPP/C-led ensemble against GECOM staff and members of the Guyana Police Force. What’s more, the ensemble was reported to be in possession of firearms. Members of the media were present at the time, and have been able to attest to the almost unbelievable exhibition of strongman tactics engaged by the Opposition and their leaders in their effort to obstruct proceedings at the GECOM HQ. GECOM Chair, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh was reportedly barricaded in her office, which was eventually breached, as officers of the GPF struggled to bring order to the situation. As reports reached the public of what had happened, GECOM and its workers were left in shambles.
The Opposition’s criminal invasion of GECOM, and the narrative they spread following their own actions could only be deduced to have been an attempt to obstruct GECOM and its staff as they attempted to undertake their constitutional obligations in relation to the declaration of results for Region 4. The subsequent injunction filed in the High Court and granted by Justice Navendra Singh allowed the Opposition to bar GECOM from announcing the results for Region 4. On Wednesday, March 11, Chief Justice Roxane Wiltshire-George ruled that the correct procedures for Region 4 were not followed, and directed GECOM to either continue with the tabulation exercise for Region 4 or start anew.
In the meantime, it would emerge that the Opposition had disseminated Statements of Poll to several small parties, which also contested the regional and general elections but were unable to field agents at all the polling stations. Presidential Candidate of The Citizen Initiative Rondha-Ann Lam, and Presidential Candidate of the People’s Republican Party Phyllis Jordan, confirmed that they had received SOPs from the Opposition, and that the information on those SOPs were inconsistent and inaccurate when compared to the ones being displayed at the polling stations. The upshot of our largely manual elections infrastructure is that GECOM will have their hard-copy original SOPs to undertake the recount exercise.
Although it might read like fiction, these events have indeed transpired here in Guyana during one of the most important constitutional exercises in our modern democracy. The carefully-calculated plans of the Opposition, as we have seen them unfold, are both shocking and criminal. Their conduct deserves to be roundly condemned, and their actions seriously investigated.
Furthermore, the deafening silence by members of the various International Observer Groups who have been vocal in condemning other issues emanating from last week’s events, is thought-provoking. The actions of the International Observer Groups must be more closely scrutinized, because they, too, have had an impact on the unfolding of events during these regional and general elections. Nonetheless, local observer groups, groups that are more closely acquainted with the politics of Guyana, have issued strong condemnations of the events which took place at GECOM on March 4 and 5. Finally, the GPF should also be better prepared to ensure that events like these do not reoccur, and that if or when they should occur, the Force is organised and able to quell the incident in a decisive, planned and effective manner.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_03_17_2020