Madness has gripped the land

May 03, 2015 Features / Columnists, My Column

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Elections always bring out a side of people that we do not usually see. People who live as friends continue to live as friends but their conversations are limited because sometimes these friends sit on opposite sides of the fence.
There are also the rumours because people feel that they have huge stakes to play for. I have been in the city for most of the campaign and just about everywhere I turn I hear people saying that ‘we got to vote dem out.’  Voting ‘dem out’ simply refers to the ruling party that has been accused of all manner of things under the sun.
Early last week, there was the rumour of ballot papers being printed.  The location of the printing varied. One person said Public Buildings, another said Freedom House and the rumours just kept flowing.
Then there reports of people going around in PPP areas and threatening the residents about vendetta at the end of the elections if the opposition coalition wins. According to those reporting on these threats, the aim is to scare the PPP supporters into voting for the PPP—consolidating as they say.
Such has been the persistence that the opposition coalition was forced to issue a statement on this report.  Then there are reports of people going around buying identification cards with the hope that people once devoid of identification cards would not turn up to vote.
If there is any truth, I wonder at the sum of money that would keep someone from the polls. The money would disappear long before the elections and the person would be back where he or she started. If the person is so stupid as to know that he or she can vote without an identification card, then so much for voter education.
Indeed, the incumbent would want to win these elections more than anything else. For one, the Attorney General has already been commenting on the possibility of the opposition coalition going after private property.  There is the view that many of the leaders got property through corrupt means, and if one were to look at their earnings, one would be hard pressed to explain how they could own so much.
It is this level of perceived corruption that has turned off so many in Guyana that they do want to see the back of the government.  So the Attorney General has already voiced concern. And if indeed there is a change in Government, I would like to see these people explain their immense wealth.
There were other reports that were equally embarrassing for the government. I learnt that in the North West people close to the government went to homes to demand the solar panels distributed some time back. The reason was that these homes had slogans pertaining to the opposition coalition.
If a government can be so petty, then it goes to show that in the first instance the solar panels were distributed as a vote-catching measure. And this was the government that took the oath to function in the interest of all. Perhaps oaths are mere words.
A Mr La Rose was detained by the police because he failed to recover the solar panels. I did speak to a woman who confirmed that there were approaches to recover the solar panel from her home and from the homes of others. She told me that she and the others refused to turn them over.
I am sure that the foreign observers would take note of this, not that it would mean anything, because once the elections are over the report could be damning, but the deed has been done. I remember President Jimmy Carter leaving in anger because the then President Jagdeo told him that there would be no change to the policy of winner takes all.
Carter’s fury did nothing for a change in the policy and attitude of the government. Aid was not halted and no sanction was applied. Life went on as usual since that day in 2004—some ten years ago.
One thing about these elections was the impact of social media. Nothing was left hidden. Conversations between Bheri Ramsaran and activist Sherlina Nageer was posted almost as soon as it happened. Comments by politicians on the hustings were no longer secret, although at the start they were intended to be.
Young people posted comments about those who were making comments from the other side of the political divide and kept the political debate alive. These young people probably did more than their leaders. And to think that through social media, even people outside Guyana were able to make their input.
I saw public servants actively involved in the elections campaign, something that was a no-no prior to 1992. The reason was that the public servant was required to deal impartially with whomever he or she had to serve. That has gone through the window.
In one case, according to reports, a Minister shared out house lots like mad ahead of a rally on the west side, and in another, people wrapped money in campaign jerseys and distributed these to people wherever a rally was to be held.
I also saw attempts to disrupt national life. For example, after a rally at Albion, the PPP was transporting its supporters back home when some aboard a truck were injured. Immediately the PPP announced that opposition elements had targeted the truck. None other than Bharrat Jagdeo contended that he was upset that people would claim that the attack did not happen.
The truth was that people aboard the truck started fighting and caused injury to some of their colleagues. To this day, there has been no attempt by the ruling party to acknowledge the truth. The Home Affairs Minister, two weeks after the incident, would say that the police have not reported to him. Poppycock.
To believe that all signed a code of conduct to behave on the campaign trail just goes to show how serious people can be about serious issues.
I sit and say that perhaps we should realize that people will be people, and that those in power are not prepared to relinquish that power. I expect worse things to happen but more than anything else, I don’t want to see a deterioration in social behaviour.

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