We must continue along this path

Nov 09, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
If there is one country that Guyanese know better than any other it’s the United States of America.
The reasons are many.
But it would be mainly because of our connectivity to mainstream US news networks and family connections.
The recent support from the Donald Trump administration for free and fair elections in Guyana brought home to the Guyanese people the importance Americans attach to democracy and the right of a people to elect a government of their choice just as they did at their recent elections.
To those in Guyana, in particular those who followed the on-going electoral process in the US, they would now have a much better idea about what is meant by ‘All politics is local,’ not only in the context of the various states and counties of America but also in Guyana.
At 12:25 pm on Saturday, November 7, news broke that the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, Joe Biden was elected the 46th President of the United States of America with Kamala Harris as his Vice President.
Soon after the announcement, people mainly young people, in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and other cities and towns in America took to the streets in large numbers and in jubilation welcoming Biden’s victory.
During the recent elections campaign, Biden was described disparagingly in some political circles as the ‘White Old Man,’ ‘Sleepy Joe’ and an ‘Old Guard’.
I’m reminded of Janet Jagan being described in 1997 as the ‘Old White Woman’ and the ‘White American Jew.’But Biden was more approvingly described as the ‘Son of Scranton’ his hometown, while Harris was described as the ‘Daughter of an Immigrant.’
While Biden fought a battle he described as ‘For the Soul of the Nation’ his competitor stuck to the 2016 slogan ‘Make America Great Again!’Biden’s campaign slogan focused on values such as character, decency and honesty.
Biden declared himself a ‘Transitional Candidate’ which some interpreted as the embodiment of transitioning from one administration to another as well the movement from one generation to the next.Biden won the presidency after making his third run for the presidency.
Harris will be the first woman of colour to be the Vice President of America.
Biden restored the so-called ‘Blue Wall.’
He won tons of votes in the so-called ‘Battle Ground States’ for his party winning over 74million out of the 15O million valid votes cast, the highest amount of votes won by any presidential candidate in the history of the US.
Notwithstanding allegations of elections rigging, voter fraud, restrictions to party representatives to observe the count, problem with counting procedures, the status of mail-in ballots, being branded a socialist and a slew of court actions, Biden was able to overcome.
In the midst of a pandemic with approximately 237,000 deaths and over nine million persons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans nevertheless came out in huge numbers to vote in favour of both Biden and Trump.
We are told that voter turnout for both candidates was unprecedented.
In a deeply divided society, and an economy ravaged by the global pandemic, Biden will be challenged by a Republican-dominated Senate over which they probably may not be in control.
Biden faces tremendous challenges in respect to health care issues, lowering the political temperature and healing a deeply divided nation.
Here in Guyana, we are no strangers to similar socio-political phenomena.
Both Republican and Democratic Presidents have been favourably disposed to assisting the democratic process in Guyana.
In 1989 Republican President Bush fired the first salvo calling for free and fair elections in Guyana.Later, prior to the 1992 elections eight Congressmen and six Senators (Republican and Democrats) wrote separate letters to the US State Department requesting US aid be tied to free and fair elections in Guyana.
President Clinton and Madeline Albright, his Secretary of State worked hard to bring economic prosperity to CARICOM countries. At the UN and OAS, Albright supported the Janet Jagan administration’s fight back against the PNC’s attempt to destabilize her government.
President Obama’s administration supported Guyana’s fight against illegal trafficking in narcotics.
He followed up with President Clinton’s efforts in supporting CARICOM’s push for Small Island Developing Sates and Low Lying Coastal States.President Trump’s and Mike Pompeyo’s his Foreign Secretary’s and the State Department’s Officials’ contribution to the Guyanese people’s struggle for free and fair elections will remain etched in our country’s electoral history.
Guyana has worked with both Republican and Democratic administrations in the US.We must continue along that path.
Your faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee

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