Int’l Observers are not arbiters to the electoral process in Guyana

Mar 08, 2020 Eye on Guyana with Lincoln Lewis, Features / Columnists

The invited presence of the international community to observe and report their findings in our General and Regional Elections is not an invitation for them to become embroiled in or dictate our electoral processes during elections. It is not an invitation to disrespect our leaders, our people and our institutions ability to resolve our conflicts using legal and legitimate means at resolution. All of which the observers are welcomed to report on and which can form evidential material in event of any election petition in a court of law.

Events to the contrary suggests that the time has come in our dear land of Guyana when we must ask ourselves whether some observers are over reaching their mandate, taking us for granted and/or acting perhaps unintentionally inimical to the interests of all Guyanese. We must ask whether these behaviours are not in effect a transgression of our sovereignty under the guise of “observation and reporting.”

This is even more concerning given that some ignore, are blinded to, and are unable to fix the many electoral disputes within their own country. Some are witnessing their laws upturned and violated daily even as efforts to preserve same are ongoing with various degrees of failure.

The social and political challenges that confront this nation are not new to the international community. But as they surface at election time it seems clear that this community is just prepared to flex its muscle to make sure that the electoral process is and in this particular electoral year the numbers are to their satisfaction. Seemingly they appear willing to compromise other important occurrences surrounding the electoral experience which speaks to free, fair and credible elections.

We remind them that every single activity affecting the electoral environment is important. In this regard the opposition invasion of GECOM; intimidation and disruption of election staff. Threats to workers and police officers peacefully conducting their duties were not seen as cause for immediate condemnation by the international community. The lives and safety of innocent school children were placed in jeopardy by opposition supporters and was ignored by the international community.

The selective concerns surrounding the elections atmosphere are of concern. At the time of writing this article there was no attempt to address this volatile environment. This is troubling. It is not that the international community is unaware of the ethnic tension and division in our society, particularly at this time. Thus, we not only expect of them to play a role in observing our elections but also not to do anything that could be construed that they are only driven by numerical outcome.

Note is also taken of Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo’s efforts at undermining the integrity of the process. If he had a concern he could have raised same with GECOM as done before and where they were addressed. But he seems more interested in destabilising the process by creating mistrust with reckless pronouncements at his press briefings and interaction with supporters. Where he claims the PPP gave the international observers a tally of the results and they are purportedly using same as the authentic statements and demanding GECOM do a number of things based on said reference point is unacceptable.

It is GECOM, the state agency responsible for conducting the election, whose results are supposed to be used following a specific process. It is a shame to hear the observers are pursuing GECOM and making initial statements to the public based on a document given to them by a contesting party. Under such circumstances it was there responsibility if they needed clarification to sit with GECOM in search of same. Instead, they sought to behave like arbiters and not observers of the process. I am sure had they done this in an amicable way the two sides would have met and sorted out differences.

As observers they have failed the process by making public statements that have incensed both sides of the political divide. They have failed us by immersing themselves as active participants to the chaos and confusion. Guyana has never witnessed this type of behaviour by observers of the international community.

As an independent sovereign nation, it is time we develop the capacity and maturity to resolve our problems among ourselves. It is time Messrs. David Granger and Irfaan Ali, the two major presidential candidates, start the process by sitting down to address the way forward using administrative and legal procedures as necessary.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)