This Long National Nightmare is Over

Aug 04, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Democracy has prevailed. This long national nightmare has come to an end. Personally, I myself wasn’t sure what would have been the outcome. I knew at some point, the Coalition would have to step aside but I wasn’t sure if we would have been subjected to a few years under a dictatorship first. However, we can all breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that the blatant, cancerous attempts to chip away at the pillars of democracy were blocked. What must be noted is that apart from the rightful pressure from the international community, the attempts to rig were so laughably barefaced. Not even Forbes Burnham would rig an election by simply playing bingo with the numbers on the SOPs. However, the Kabaka disciples still tried their best and showed that they are still mentally living in 1985. Burnham himself once said, “You can take a man out of a colony but you cannot take the colony out of some men”. I have put a spin on that quote for the 2020 election: You can take a man out of a dictatorship but you cannot take the dictatorship out of some men.
Further, it seems very obvious by now that the PNC has destroyed themselves in this election. They are finished. They have completely eroded any chance of winning a straight election ever again and hence will never set foot in office again for the future of Guyanese politics. Why have I jumped to this conclusion, you may ask? They simply cannot survive another rigging allegation. From 1964-1992, the PNC governed Guyana and rigged elections were held in 1968, 1973, 1980 and 1985. They were given a second chance as part of a coalition in 2015 to re-enter office. I must admit that I was happy when President Granger was sworn in as I saw it as a breath of fresh air. However, they have shown once again that when you vote them in, they don’t want to leave. I think this was made clear to everyone, even their loyalists. If, five months ago, the electoral process wasn’t frustrated and the coalition left office, they still would have had a strong support base for 2025. But this clown show was just too embarrassing. I won’t waste any precious time touching on the breadcrumb that is the AFC. That doesn’t mean that the Government should become complacent though. If they misbehave, the rising star small parties could receive enough votes to create a parliamentary minority for the PPP in 2025.
Moreover, I am calling on this administration to reach out to the coalition supporters and let them know that it is a government that cares about every individual regardless of colour, class, religion as well as sexual orientation. I say this because for the past five months, they have been lied to, manipulated and exploited by their leaders into thinking that the coalition won this election. I cannot even picture what is going through their thoughts right now seeing a different result being declared. This is not a standalone occurrence. The PNC has been exploiting the Afro-Guyanese population (the primary ethnic makeup of their support base) as early as 1963 with Forbes Burnham telling his supporters that they would be subjugated under a Dr. Jagan government due to colour. This manipulation has continued into the modern century where every election season horror stories about extrajudicial killings are resurrected. And for what? To drive fear into the hearts of their primarily Afro-Guyanese support base. This is a clear example of the exploiters and the exploited, exploiters being the PNC. This must end. All this has done is to strengthen the disease known as “Apaan Jaat” and widen the racial divide. As a youth who has now completed high school, this only hurts my heart.
Once more, I am hopeful that the new Government spreads the message of love and reconciliation. Every PPP supporter should reach out to every APNU supporter and vice versa to show that we are stronger together. I cannot stress that enough. This election has shown how broken and divided we are as a nation.
That being said, I extend my congratulations to the President and his party and look forward to seeing immense progress.

Yours faithfully,
Nikhil Sankar

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