The decisive, defining moment in Guyana’s future has arrived

Oct 19, 2010 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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The last thing any human being on Planet Earth who knows about Guyana’s history wants to see is election rigging and election conspiracies in this land. Such negative things hurt this country in bestial ways for over two decades.
In 1992 we cleansed our collective souls of this madness. It is about to happen again. We knew it was coming. It was there for all to see but we wanted to see the denouement. Well it is here. The general election of 2011 is in trouble. It is doubtful it will occur. The PPP and the present ruling cabal do not want the elections. The moment of opposition mettle has arrived. The combined parliamentary opposition has lived in fear of this arrival. They cannot avoid it any longer.
One reason for undermining GECOM has to do with the excruciating uncertainty about the outcome of the elections. The PPP is confused about the results of the poll. The hope inside Freedom House is that the PPP will lose the Parliament but win the presidency nevertheless.
But pessimistic voices among the little dictators are echoing a loss scenario. Some king-makers feel that Donald Ramotar (he is the PPP’s presidential candidate) will not be electrifying and will cause a hemorrhage of PPP votes. The plan is to postpone the elections as long as possible until billions and billions are thrown into the country to achieve an attitudinal metamorphosis among voters so as to secure a victory.
There is an alternative route – don’t have the elections because a defeat means the biggest criminal trial in these parts of the world. Separate from this is an American interest in having some politicians here explain their connections with drug barons. After 18 years in power in which some of the worst criminal indecencies have occurred, could the little dictators afford to endure the loss of power? The answer is no.
The list of criminal venalities is endless – illegal sales of the country’s resources; drug connections; foreign bank accountants acquired under the table; abuse of power by hiding facts that were detrimental to the nation’s survival, for example, the conservancy over-topping in 2005; the mystery of Lindo Creek; the once invincibility of Roger Khan; massive tax evasion by the kings and their friends; the “Sash” Sawh tragedy and last but not least, there is no statute of limitation on sexual criminalities.
It had to happen. We know it had to. It started with the dissolution of GECOM’s media monitoring unit. And the fools we have for opposition politicians, instead of traveling around the world to alert the global community on what was about to come, they were photographed crawling inside Parliament debating infantile inconsequentialities that the Guyanese people had no interest in.
Now the second stage has been reached – stop GECOM from informing the electorate why they must register, how they must register, where they must register and what they have to do after they register. In other words, kill voter education knowing that a fiercely independent GECOM with a no-nonsense Chairman will resist and the confrontation will stop the holding of elections.
So where do we go from here? Father Malcolm Rodrigues who once played a glorious role in the fight for free and fair elections must put back on his famous symbol of struggle – the black beret. He must begin to rally the Catholic Church once more for free and fair elections. The Anglican Church has to get involved too. Immediately all the opposition parties have to call an urgent confabulation. This should include non-parliamentary groups like the WPA, Mark Benschop’s Independent Party; Hamilton Green’s Good and Green for Guyana, and others.
Invitations must be sent out to civil society actors like the Citizens’ Initiative, Red Thread, the Bar Association, the Multi-Racial Patriotic Movement, the TUC. Also to be added must be prominent civil society individuals. The name Christopher Ram comes to mind. The private sector will have to be told that we are back to the struggle for free and fair elections.
Out of this configuration must be born a committee to plan the survival of GECOM and to ensure that preparations are made for the 2011 general elections. The first step must be visits to the policy-makers of countries that can demand that the Guyana Government stop the assault on GECOM.
Despite their foolish bravado and silly chauvinism, the little dictators will not be able to resist pressures from Washington, D.C. to stop the conspiracy against GECOM. Next there should be dialogues with CARICOM leaders. The last thing CARICOM wants is yet another implosion in Guyana.
Finally, time for the opposition to flex its muscles.

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