Proselytizing the minds of Guyanese into a belief in falsehood

Aug 27, 2019 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I write in relation to an article in the Sunday August 25, 2019 edition of your newspaper, on page 35, captioned, ‘Mr. Jagdeo, let GECOM do its work; you do yours’ written by Lincoln Lewis in his column, ‘Eye on Guyana’, which seems to me as a piece wishing to proselytize the minds of Guyanese into a belief in falsehood.
Firstly, I must say that the writer seemed to have been going so well with his logic from the outset of his piece, but when he gets into his 7th paragraph – where he is saying that in this era, national interest is being subsumed by partisan interest – I could have smelled the propaganda he was apparently selling, reeking.
What is GECOM’s role in this whole mess? Who is partisan and who isn’t? All Guyanese know the status quo – that there are 6 GECOM Commissioners – 3 for Opposition side, 3 for Government side.
It seems that that said learned writer is taking the rationale that citizens must exercise their voting franchise only whenever GECOM gives them that right, even if that takes a turtle’s time.
Instead, I suggest that that said learned writer could have given his views about the upcoming election, since that is really the crux of the issue at hand to keep us readers abreast of news disseminated objectively. For example, he could have given his considered estimation of the Election Date, and why, which is the hottest topic right now – and this would have been a better objective exercise.
As I see it, my views, which I wish to share openly with Mr. Lewis, views which may well prove themselves correct later, or not, are that a viable, early and wholly legal Elections Date can’t be a day – choosing a day Monday to Saturday, and excluding all Sundays – any earlier than December 2nd. Let me explain.
Should Nomination Day be October 29 (which is an excellent yardstick to use in the interim as it gives GECOM nine (9) weeks to get its house in order) GECOM should use its Constitutional strength not to flout the “not less than 32 days before Election” stipulation, guaranteed a nominee under Article 103 (5) of the Constitution, and firmly set December 2 as Election Day.
GECOM’s consideration must cater to the bordering right deserving of one set of its clients and customers, eligible voters, in conjunction with another set of its clients and customers, nominees. To invoke one’s Article 159 (1) and Article 162 (a) and (b) rights, careful vetting and consideration must be afforded to one and all, as a body of voters. On the other hand, a fair campaign period for all nominees to run their respective platforms must be given, as these persons have been hailing from all the ten Regions, all waiting anxiously, some even at GECOM’s doorsteps in the rain or hot sun.
GECOM must undertake with a skilfully executed time management Matrix, and only perform all the necessary but constraining tasks of holding the 2019 Election quickly. This is a time where tardiness is unwarranted, I suggest. Once the facilitation of the printing of the new OLE, if at all deemed necessary by the GECOM Chair, and the corresponding distribution to all Polling Stations of material is planned, then let us execute it ASAP.
What is also certain is that Guyanese politicians would be grilled this elections on whatever promises they bring to the people to win a majority government. A promise should be a true Politician’s bond. The key word being, should.
The reality that our beloved Guyana faces is this – a continuance ad nauseam of citizens bearing the brunt of criminals plying their trade and escalating our crime rate daily, increased poverty, which has resulted in tens of thousands of teenagers and other youths being counted amongst the ones charged and convicted with thefts, with no corresponding form of rehabilitation or reformation undertaken by the State, and is a variable in the aforesaid unacceptable escalating crime rate.
There is also a resulting body of senior citizens who are essentially living meagerly by one ludicrous monthly payout amount to the next, atrocious unemployment statistics, lethargic politicians, rampant corruption by policemen, public servants, a belabouring body of despotic and insensitive leaders both in the past, and in this current government to the needs of the poor.
And we must not forget thieves everywhere pillaging Guyanese resources whether occupying high Guyanese offices or foreigners, systemic discrimination faced by government-job seekers who are UG graduates, children displaced from broken homes and being beaten by police and charged as criminals and placed before the courts instead of the State social security system looking after them, private back-room deals made by both past and current Ministers of Government, mediocre health care (even all our Presidents and Prime Ministers, went overseas for their treatments obviously seeking betterment) etc. etc.
Yours truly,
M. Shabeer Zafar
Barrister Solicitor Notary (Windsor, Ontario),
Former Berbice attorney-at-law

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