I support Peeper to allow Carter Center Observers in

May 05, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I endorse the call by Peeping Tom (May 4) for the government to grant landing clearance to the observers from the Carter Center and other international non-government as well as regional organizations. These international bodies were invited by the government and GECOM to observe the electoral process. They accepted the invitation and were in Guyana witnessing the electoral process. They left before the process could be completed because of judicial dispute and unresolved issues at GECOM that prevented the completion of the counting exercise.
I don’t think the Carter team or any observer really needs another approval to land in Guyana. They were invited to witness the process. The election is not over. The process is ongoing. The accreditation remains and is not cancelled. The observers should operate on that basis and proceed to come to Guyana. It would be appropriate to come with certificate of Corona negative test since that was a requirement to grant approval to the Caricom team. If Caricom could be granted approval, why not the observers? Out of courtesy, Carter Center made a request for approval to come to Guyana in light of COVID-19 and the lockdown of the airport.
It is now two months after the elections. No reasonable government or anyone at GECOM really expected the observers to remain in Guyana for that lengthy period. They had to return to their families and regular line of work. Now the recount process has been established and a date is fixed to restart the process. The observers are willing to return to be witnesses. Decency requires that they be allowed to return. Their presence is necessary to validate the recount in light of the fraudulent count that took place on March 4 and a week later. Unless the recount is validated as credible by international observers, the ABCE countries, Commonwealth, UN, Caricom, UNASUR, OAS, and other international organizations would not recognize the government arising out of it. Without foreign observers, the recount would not be deemed to be credible. Thus, it is in the interests of the government to allow observers to land in Guyana. The government has nothing to hide to allow observers.
Separately, I also support calls for live streaming of the recount as well as access to use of cell phones which are now part of a person’s life. Live streaming of the process and cell phones can’t really be used to tamper with ballots or influence the recounting of ballots. At any rate, people will not be using the phone in course of duty when undertaking the recount. Cell phones would not interfere with work or observing the process or compromise it.
The secrecy of the ballot is not violated in a live coverage of the recounting process. Ballots don’t have a name of the voter. So no one would be exposed on how they vote. All the live streaming does is show the votes for each of the parties. It is also a deterrent against shenanigans, skullduggery and attempted fraud. The presence of cameras helped exposed the Mingo. The government and GECOM have nothing to hide in having a transparent process.
Finally, is anyone willing to wager a bet on how the recount would go and how long it will take? Will it come to a completion? One does not have to be a political scientist like me to draw a conclusion. If after nine weeks, there was no resolution to the count and key figures at GECOM were involved in counting fraud and even willing to use the fraudulent count to prepare a final report, and they are still there, what outcome does one really expect?

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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