Donald Ramotar— a kinsman of King Canute

May 16, 2015 Editorial

The lid blew off the pressure cooker when the Guyana Elections Commission announced the total votes from the 2,299 polling stations that dotted the landscape for the May 11, 2015 elections in Guyana.
The announcement also exposed the dangers of delaying the final vote count. One day after the elections the political parties announced what purported to be the findings from the statements of poll from its workers in the field. The coalition comprising A Partnership for National Unity plus Alliance For Change had announced that it had won the elections by a sizeable margin.
Minutes later the People’s Progressive Party said that it too had secured a commanding lead in the elections judging from its statements of poll. In the end the elections were the closest in the history of Guyana, virtually a dead heat but the coalition won.
In a democracy one accepts the will of the people; here the government says that it is not prepared to accept the outcome of the elections. This is contrary to an agreement it entered into with the Guyana Elections Commission. In fact, there was a Code of Conduct and all the contesting parties actually agreed to the terms and conditions.
The basic tenet is that all should accept the result of the polls. The PPP was one of them that insisted on this. Donald Ramotar, Clement Rohee and Bharrat Jagdeo were adamant that they would abide by the decision of the electorate. This has ceased to be the case. The People’s Progressive Party is the only entity in Guyana that is refusing to accept the final outcome.
History records that the PPP has never demitted office easily; it has always had to be dragged out or kicked out.
Every diplomat in Guyana has certified the elections. In fact, the American Charge d’Affaires, Bryan Hunt, British High Commissioner Greg Quinn and Canadian High Commissioner, Dr. Nicole Giles, at the end of the polls, declined to meet with President Donald Ramotar at Office of the President. They contended that Office of the President was not the place to discuss political matters.
They had earlier said to him that he should accept the results. In fact, they said as much when they met him at Freedom House. Since then members of the previous government, every civic organization, diplomats appointed by the PPP, members of the party and the international community have all said that Ramotar must accept the results.
But Ramotar holds the opposing view. He, with prompting from Bharrat Jagdeo, stands like King Canute, trying to hold back the tide.
There is more; we have been exposed as a people who smile when someone makes a suggestion. We nod and pretend that we are in sync with the proposer of the recommendation but we ignore the recommendation as soon as we leave the company. Because of this there has been no implementation of any recommendation made by the various foreign observer missions.
Each over the years has been looking at Guyana’s archaic electoral laws and systems; each had made recommendations for their modification. Of course the government has listened but has done nothing for nearly two decades.
Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. Nicole Giles, put this failure into perspective. She said that when the recommendations are made and the government takes office, it believes that it has at least five years to adopt the recommendations. However, time passes quickly and before one knows it, it is time for elections again and no attempt has been made to modify the laws.
Having said that, we now come to the situation where the only entity in denial is the PPP. Perhaps that party believes that it can call for vote recounts in perpetuity thus stalling the elections indefinitely.
Perhaps, the PPP believes that ruling Guyana is its birthright and that no one else should. By now the leaders must realize that the party holds the safety of the country in its hands.

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Donald Ramotar— a kinsman of King Canute

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