ELECTION JITTERS

Jan 25, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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It happens to the best of us; it happens to the worst of us. Everyone at some stage or the other has jitters, especially approaching a major event in our lives.
The opposition parties right now have the jitters. They have election jitters. They will get over it. They are for the moment nervous, uncertain, confused and scared.
The President of Guyana has announced that May 11 will be the date on which general and regional elections will be held in Guyana. The President has been true to his promise. There were many who tried to convince the Guyanese people that the President would have attempted to rule unconstitutionally. They whispered that he would rule by decree.
In response, he made it clear that in the new year he would name a date for elections. The opposition parties felt that this was a bluff. He proved them wrong. He has kept his word and announced a date.
The opposition parties have once again been caught napping. They did not expect the President to move to elections. All along they believed their own propaganda that the PPP was scared to go to the polls. They refused to accept the fact that the President was being sincere when he said that he would announce a date for elections. He has done so and the implication is that the nation goes to the polls within the next four months.
This announcement has caused shivers in the opposition camp. They are displaying symptoms of running scared. They have even said that the announcement of an election date was a farce. This reaction, while suggesting some form of panic in the opposition camp, is indicative of jitters. It too, like everything else, will pass.
The nervousness has even caused APNU to call for a new date for elections. They claim that the date is inappropriate since CXC examinations are going to be held around the same time as elections. Well, a great many things are going to be held every month for the rest of the year. If the President had named a date in February, the cry would have been that it would disrupt Mashramani. If the President had named June, you would have heard that it would disrupt the Caribbean Premier League. If it was announced for July and beyond, you would have heard cries that the president was attempting to extend his rule beyond the six months of prorogation.
The President had a window of nine months, six for prorogation and three following the dissolution of parliament. He has called elections within six months. The opposition should have been dancing in the streets welcoming the announcement. Instead they are questioning the announcement. It is all part of the jitters.
The Guyana Human Rights Association and the Guyana Trades Union Congress also have the jitters. The rug has been pulled from right under their feet. They can no longer claim that the PPP wants to hold onto power unconstitutionally. So the GHRA is contending that the President is supposed to have issued a proclamation naming May 11 as the date for elections.
The President has merely announced the date for elections. If he dissolves parliament immediately, he is required to call elections within three months of that dissolution. If he had done that last week by proclamation it would mean an April rather than a May election.
As such, in order for elections to be held on May 11, the President cannot dissolve parliament until February 11 or later. This is the constitutional position. But he can at any time make an announcement as to the date when elections will be held. And he has so done.
Informed that a proclamation can and will follow the announcement, the opposition is now raising suspicion that the date for elections may be farcical. In other words, they are suggesting that elections may not be held in May and that the announcement may have just been a ruse for the President to ward off some of the international pressures to which he has been subjected
The opposition had better wake up and smell the air. Elections are in the air. The faster they realize this, the better it would be for them. The time for excuses is over. Stop making excuses about the fairness of the polls because of biased State media coverage! Forget about the government using state resources to campaign! Those excuses, while legitimate, should not deflect the opposition parties from moving into campaign gear.
The opposition parties wanted elections and they now have elections. The opposition was moving towards a December 2014 elections with their no-confidence motion. They now have a May 2015 election and seem totally unprepared for these polls.
The excuses should cease. It is part of election jitters. And right now the opposition parties are trembling with nervousness, fear and uncertainty.

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