Rigged Elections – New Forms of Bondage: Resist and Promote our Guyaneseness!

Aug 09, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean recently celebrated the 181 years of the end of slavery in our region. This is one of the most, if not the most important date in our history. It was a giant step forward in the struggle for Independence and socio-economic freedom.
This year, this date coincides with an important political struggle in Guyana, which is to have free and fair elections. It is essentially a struggle to defend democratic freedom we won in 1992. It is a continuation of the struggle of the slaves for freedom, democracy and socio-economic progress.
Our country’s social, political and economic development have been retarded because of the lack of democracy since we became independent. That led to great retardation of the all-round development of our nation. The main cause was the rigging of national elections.
The rigging of our elections began since 1957. That year and in 1961 the Colonial power, in attempting to put the PNC into office, manipulated the electoral boundaries to give the PNC an advantage. Where the PPP was known to be strong, those areas were merged into large constituencies. Where the PNC was known to be strong, those areas were broken up into small ones.
The idea was to maximize the PNC representation in its Legislative Assembly with a minimum of votes, while minimizing the seats of the PPP with a large amount of votes. That is why in 1957 Cheddi Jagan’s votes in the Corentyne Constituency were more than the combined votes of all the opposition candidates.
In 1961 they manipulated boundaries to ensure the PPP lost in some areas. For example, they tied Lodge with La Penitence and Albouystown, areas that are not contiguous. This was because they were not sure that the PNC could have won in Albouystown and La Penitence. Lodge was thrown in to ensure that the PNC secured that seat.
As is well known, the whole electoral system was changed in 1964 from the Constituency or First Past the Post System to Proportional Representation. Again, to help the PNC to get into power. That time they succeeded by pushing the PNC into coalition with the UF. In 1964 the Colonial power allowed the massive abuse of proxies. PNC was allowed to cast 19,000 proxy votes to ensure that the PPP was edged out.
They also tried to stifle the PPP’s campaign by detaining some 33 of its top leaders centrally and many of its organizers. The elections were held while a State of Emergency was in place. Indeed, when Independence came, many PPP leaders were still imprisoned at Sibley Hall and with a State of Emergency in existence.
Guyana was the only country that the UK granted independence while under a state of emergency.
The PNC in power in 1964 put in place the mechanisms to perpetuate itself in government by rigging our elections. They used bribery and corruption to buy over legislators from the PPP and the UF. That is how the PNC took full control of the elections machinery.
In 1968, in addition to the measures described above, they crudely stuffed ballot boxes. In one case in the Pomeroon when a box was opened 25 wads of ballot papers wrapped in rubber bands came tumbling out – all marked for the PNC. That was the year the PNC introduced overseas voting. The Granada Television of the UK did a documentary on it and showed that there was massive fraud. In 1973, 1980 and 1985 elections, the Army was used to seize the ballot boxes and change the votes. This was the worst period in our national political life. It eventually led to a tattered economy and the pauperization of the whole country.
In 1990 they managed to delay the elections for two years by deliberately messing up the voters’ list. Now APNU+AFC is doing something akin to what they did in 1990. They want House to House registration to rig the list of electors. This is an exercise to corrupt a clean list that exists now.
Immediately after1992 the PNC worked closely with the PPP to strengthen the electoral system. I suppose that having gone into the opposition, the PNC wanted to ensure that what they did while in power could not happen under the PPP/C, therefore for this reason they agreed to strengthen the security of the ballots. All parties in the National Assembly agreed to the introduction of the “Voter I.D. Card” to ensure that multiple voting could not take place.
After the elections, the PNC realized that a strong system was not in its best interest. They wanted a system which they could manipulate. Since then they have worked to undermine the security of the ballots, while activating various means to rig elections.
In 2011 and 2015 the PNC APNU+AFC devised new plans to rig elections. One was to harass and intimidate the heads of the Commission. Recall the vigils at the homes and threats to Surujbally, the then Chairman, and the CEO Gocool Boodhoo.
The new method was to use fictitious Statements of Poll.
Recall in 2015 the Chief Elections Officer, at one point said he could not announce the results of the elections because he found many fictitious Statements of Poll. He then put aside more than 400 boxes which suggested that those boxes had fake statements of poll. However, without any investigation and the Chairman going back on his promise to examine a few boxes (22), they gave the elections to APNU+AFC. That is what gave APNU+AFC victory in 2015.
This regime is tainted as a result. So far the elections petition is still to be heard.
At the coming elections they are looking for new methods for their rigging operations.
This was evident from the moment they took power.
Immigration is now added to their armoury to corrupt national elections.
The Kaieteur News recently exposed the large amounts of Haitians that came into Guyana for this year. This is probably the tip of the iceberg, since that process has been going on for about two years now. The fact that when the Haitians arrive at the airport, they receive special treatment, special persons are assigned to look after them and special transportation provided for them, must suggest that this is an organized operation. Other nationals are also being imported as well, for the same purpose, but the bulk are arriving from Haiti.
It is obvious too, that Haitians who are induced to come here are likely, given free tickets and pocket-money. No other reason would induce them to come en masse here. It is the only plausible explanation for this big influx.
If they are economic migrants, then Guyana is not a destination they would come to. After all, the same PNC-led APNU+AFC regime has destroyed thousands of jobs and have created none. Unemployment is at an all-time high.
Minister Felix’s explanation for the Haitians’ arrival does not hold water. He said that they are in transit to French Guyana. Why are they only now taking this route? If French Guiana is their eventual destination, then it would be cheaper and more convenient to travel via Suriname. This obviously is not the reason!
Apart from some material inducement, the PNC must be telling the Haitians that they have to come here to help ‘oppressed’ Black people. The race card is being played on these hapless people to promote the political agenda of an elite in the PNC who are determined to enrich themselves at the expense of the state. Many officials appointed by this regime have become fabulously rich in the past four years. The PNC/APNU+AFC elite and their cohorts are the only ones enjoying the ‘good life’.
To try and discourage any investigation into this operation the PNC is once more playing the racial card. Their tactic is to question why only the Haitians are being spoken about, suggesting that if this is raised, the person or persons questioning this unusual trend must be racist. It is also doing this to stoke African Guyanese sentiments – all to cover a dishonest operation to perpetuate themselves in power.
The race card is being used to muzzle the African Guyanese working people who are en masse being also marginalized and pauperized by the PNC/APNU+AFC regime.
While the PNC is playing the Race Card to silence and prevent opposition from African Guyanese, they are busy making deals with some Indian business people, who in some cases are now very chummy with many of the top PNC/APNU+AFC leaders.
This is a repeat of the performance of the PNC in power during the 28 years of dictatorship – those years when our country sank to the bottom of the social and economic ladder with some 80% poverty, according to the World Bank/IDB-SIMAP report. This is the same road we are on. The inevitable outcome will be mass poverty, oppression, political victimization of the Guyanese masses on the one hand and fabulous wealth in the hands of the ruling elite.
With their new scheme of rigging, they will be forging new chains of bondage and oppression for all our people and eventually it would also consume the immigrants who have come here to be used as pawns for rigging purposes.
On this 181st anniversary of ending of slavery, let us honour the fighters who came before us by frustrating the diabolic scheme of this PNC/APNU+AFC regime. Let your voices be heard.
It is time the Guyanese people in general and African Guyanese in particular, examine the quality of leadership that the PNC has given to this country since its formation. Would we condemn our children and grandchildren to a fate of poverty and insecurities?
Now is the time to promote our Guyaneseness, our oneness as a people, and oppose the diabolical schemes of this PNC-led regime.
Donald Ramotar
Former President

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