Freddie, what mistakes did Hoyte make?

Mar 12, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
In his drivel (Mar 7), Freddie Kissoon penned: “Mr. Hoyte made some fatal mistakes that allowed the PNC to lose power and he was psychologically lacerated by those errors which haunted him every day”.
Pray, tell what mistakes did Hoyte make in causing the PNC to lose the elections?
Electoral outcomes are the will of the people. In every democratic country, people are allowed to choose their government at regular and periodic elections. Elections are supposed to be free and fair and free from fear. Between December 1964 and October 1992, Guyana did not have free and fair elections.
Lord Avebury of England aptly described Guyana’s elections during that period as ‘crooked as barbed wire”. Guyanese in the diaspora, myself included, lobbied international governments to pressure the Hoyte regime to hold free and fair elections so that Guyanese can choose their own government. Foreign aid was tied to the holding of free and fair elections under international supervision.
Hoyte agreed to the Carter Center to lead the observer mission of hundreds on our 1922 elections. The foreign observers determined that the elections were relatively free and fair though it was not completely devoid of fraud. There was an attempt to derail the voting process on Election Day with ethnic violence. The PNC lost the elections.
Gecom office was attacked; President Carter and other officials were hold up at Gecom praying for their lives. Buildings were set on fire and people were in the streets. Hoyte accepted the election results confirming his defeat. He was described by his deputy as a “school boy politician” for accepting defeat and yield power.
Tell us Freddie, what should Hoyte have done “losing power” other than handing over to a successor who defeated him? Should he have let loose the dogs of war on opponents? No! Hoyte did the honorable thing as any decent politician would do when the people have spoken via the ballot box.
Vishnu Bisram

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