THE OPPOSITION DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS DOING

Jul 15, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

---

It has come as a surprise that the joint opposition is opposed to another round of claims and objections so as to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.
If the opposition is serious about ensuring that every Guyanese of voting age is given the opportunity to vote, it seems strange that they should now be objecting to another round of claims and objections.
The explanation given for their objection is bemusing.
The opposition is claiming that a new round of claims and objections can taint the voters’ list. Are these guys for real?
How can ensuring that all eligible voters are on the voters’ list amount to tainting that list? How can this new round taint the voters’ list when the previous rounds did not?
After all, would the same checks and balances not be in place and would the opposition not have the opportunity to scrutinize the process as they have done during previous claims and objections periods?
Why would the opposition, which took to the streets in 2006 calling for verification and a new house-to-house registration exercise, be opposed to ensuring that all eligible voters are on the list?
Why would the opposition be opposed to a process which can only enhance the credibility of the voters’ list?
Why would the opposition, in particular the PNCR which only a few months ago raised the issue of a large number of persons not being registered because of problems in obtaining source documents, now be opposed to allowing those who are still not registered to get onto the voters list? And why claim that there is a risk of the list being tainted?
Does the opposition really believe its own propaganda that the government does not want to have elections this year? Do they expect to be taken seriously by the people of Guyana with that foolishness?
The ruling party is more than ready for the elections. At the click of a button, they can kick start their election campaign into high gear. The opposition cannot be serious.
The opposition may be deluding themselves into believing that the PPP is panicking since a number of their supporters are not on the voters’ list. And the opposition may see an advantage in such a situation.
But the opposition knows also that no election is ever going to be credible if large numbers of persons are disenfranchised. So why object to a process that can only enhance the credibility of the elections?
The position adopted by the opposition parties is a retreat from the stance they had taken in previous elections, where they insisted on maximum enfranchisement.
Only months after having expressed concerns about the large number of eligible voters without source documents to complete their registration, the opposition is effectively saying that it does not care too much any more about that.
It wants the elections to go ahead. It may be doing so because it may be of the opinion that it can secure an advantage if more supporters of the PPP are disenfranchised than its own.
But it may end up being surprised, because the PPP has always had a track record of ensuring that its supporters are registered and on the list.
So it is the opposition who are most likely shooting itself in the feet.
At the end of this year’s elections, democracy should emerge the greatest winner. It really does not matter which party wins the election. What is more important is that Guyana has a credible electoral process, free from negative incidents and free from aspersions of fraud and disenfranchisement.
The PPP knows that the presence of large number of persons who are not registered can, as it was in the past, be used as a pretext for questioning the credibility of the polls and for political unrest. The least thing Guyana wants is for hundreds of persons to be marching down the streets on Election Day saying that they were not allowed to vote.
The PPP no doubt wants to avoid this, so that Guyana can breathe freely after the elections. No one wants these sorts of problems, and it is the very opposition which only months ago was pointing to the difficulties that persons have had in obtaining source documents.
The opposition may also fear that a delay of a few weeks in the elections will give the government an advantage, in that they can do a great deal more work in terms of development.
But what about if the elections go ahead and large numbers of their supporters are not registered, what happens then?
Is the same opposition which is opposed to a new round to claims and objections to allow those persons to get on the voters’ roll going to cry foul? Get serious!
The opposition may be working to an October deadline and may not have the resources to extend their campaign for another few weeks. But they must see the downside to their objections.
If they disenfranchise their own supporters, they will never again regain the level of support which they enjoy, a level of support which is diminishing and which if it falls below a certain level, cannot be restored.
The people of Guyana will abandon them forever.

---

---