What took place in Guyana at GECOM is a global disgrace

Mar 12, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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In life, there is no guarantee of fairness and justice. This is because human nature is flawed. Aristotle did not write on the nature of human nature, but he did present a case whereby because humans are what they are, you can still obtain fairness and justice through societal agreement on the need for regulating human conduct.
We will never have civilization where justice and fairness naturally flow from human conduct, but the limit on humans’ willingness to impose their own system of justice on others has been severely curtailed long before the modern world evolved.
Today civilization has survived all kinds of cruel unfairness heaped upon it by unreasonable humans, but Homo sapiens will continue to be bestial. One of the ways humans have tried to mask their cruel tendencies on others is to hide them or hope that they evade punishment. In modern civilized society, humans try to hide their selfishness, and this is because they know that manifest misconduct brings retaliation.
The story of the breakdown of the post-election process at GECOM constitutes one of the most barefaced and degenerate acts of unfairness in the global modern world. I saw tears in the eyes of the chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Gerry Gouveia when he described how the tabulation and verification process was aborted two Wednesdays ago at GECOM centre. He sat next to me in Kaieteur Radio studio and as he got further and further into his depiction of the insanity GECOM heaped upon this besieged nation, tears gathered in his eyes.
I am not going to waste valuable space in this column to describe what went on there. It is because I knew what took place, and because my soul was rocked deeply and extensively by the descent into the chasm of uncivilized sickness, I expressed what I knew about the election results in my Tuesday column titled “I firmly and consciously believe the PPP won the election.”
As a reaction to the Tuesday adumbration, I received a call from an African scholar of Guyanese and Caribbean prominence who is connected to the Government of Guyana, who told me I should not have offered my views on the election results.
I will offer his explanation then submit my rebuttal. He opined that because I stand above Indian tribalism and do not advance an Indian narrative, I have not helped the pregnancy of power-sharing dialogue. He suggested that by stating my belief on the election results, my analysis will help one side only.
I went at length to explain why I did so, and only one reason I had when I did that, and only one reason will exist in my mind when I repeat what I believe are the election results. That driving force was what happened from Wednesday afternoon of March 4 at GECOM command centre, until the Chief Justice declared yesterday afternoon that Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo acted illegally when he declared the final election results.
I told that scholar, uncivilized action of humans at GECOM forced me to commit to the philosophical principles that I must fulfill my obligations to my country. I knew from Tuesday morning how the voting went. Then insanities took over the post-voting process the next day. In the reverberations of confusion, I believe I would have continued to contribute to the madness of uncertainties spinning like windmills in the minds of the people of Guyana had I remained silent or non-committal. I made my belief known about the election results as an act of confrontation as to what was taking place at GECOM.
I am saying with pellucid forcefulness, that what occurred at GECOM through their high-ranking officials were acts of dishonesty that were too sick for the world to tolerate, much less accept. It is obligatory of those nationalists who have funds available, to finance a publication on the social and psychological brutalities that characterized the behaviour of GECOM officials from Wednesday afternoon of March 4, so that future generations can learn the lessons.
The publication must be made widely available, so folks can keep copies and pass them on to their grandchildren. Banal words like “shocking,” “incredible,” “unbelievable,” “ridiculous,” “horrible,” are trillions of miles away from a satisfactory portrait of what GECOM did to this country from Wednesday, March 4.
Those who love this country and want it to have a future must contribute to the funding of that publication. It will be a lesson that future generations would hope never happens again in Guyana or any other country. Civilized society should never see these things again.

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

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