Conceding Defeat

Nov 25, 2020 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Conceding electoral defeat does not have to be automatic, immediate, or even timely.
Regarding the latter, that is dependent on the sweep of related circumstances, and the strengths of them. It goes without saying, and as we emphasize today, those circumstances would be as backed by compelling facts on the ground, and not from those that are manufactured either premeditatedly or on the run to suit changing situations.
Today, it seems that every election is an exotic mix of cliffhanger and nail-biter, well attended by impassioned agitators and troublemakers. Suriname had its moments and so, too, did Trinidad and Tobago. The only thing that could be said to sum up what occurred in Guyana’s most recent elections is that here there was a continuing reliving of a six-decade farce, with ingenious creativity, and a cast of characters unmatched anywhere. And to trump (no pun intended) all that came before, there is now the United States, that showpiece of democracy, from which place its pathological hypocrites go around the globe proselytizing about transparency, leadership integrity, and honor, duty, country.
A clear loser, in more ways than one, is not conceding. What is preached worldwide (here, too) is not practiced. Yeah hope springs eternal, despite sentiments about democracy and all that amounts to so much forgettable jazz.
But all of that is known, where conceding becomes an exercise in self-flagellation, a personal human sacrifice shrunk from before the altars of the Constitution, law, and tradition. The bottom line is this: leaders do not do so anymore. There are no such political saints or martyrs; their party would not let them do so. And, as is becoming evident in America, the leader that lost is not going to make his party do so either.
Similar to what happened here; decent men lose their dignity, all the swearing about democracy vanishes. Over there, it is not happening anytime soon also, and a prince of perversity and paranoia only succeeds in digging a deeper home for himself in the sleaziest part of the cesspit. This is from the man that called a Third World country that kind of hole in which he has always resided, palace and executive mansions and all.
How different is this from several decades ago, when a man threw in the towel on a presidential contest that was as close as can be. In 1960, Richard Nixon, of all people, rose to the occasion and acknowledged that his prospects looked grim, and that was within hours of the returns. The differential at that predawn hour was a mere 113,000 votes, not a massive five million and counting. On Election Day plus one, Nixon conceded. In hindsight, there is evidence that he was cheated in Cook County, Illinois, compliments of that king of crooks, Joe Kennedy, Snr. But gracious conceding he did and timely, which he may have done too early.
Gore did that, too and he was cheated by chads this time, not dead voters. But he conceded after a struggle for continuity and the good of the country, though battleground Florida reduced to only 537 votes. Statesmen do that; principled leaders challenge, but only up to a point.
They owe themselves, supporters, and campaign workers such clarity and cleanness. It must be when the writing is not just on the wall, the writing is the wall that bars further discussion, or playing dangerous games.
There is a crying need for restoration of dignity and truth to politics. There is optimism that this could occur in America. There is little hope about similar electoral dignity and ethos taking hold here, as the kind of presences direly needed are totally lacking, without exception.
As one fallout from the last elections here, there is neither place nor reception for any political newcomers and their deceiving presences. That is how they will be viewed, given what the last batch turned out to be: all blabber and not an iota of character.
Thus, we are stuck with the delusional, the dangerous, and the destructive.

For all these reasons, conceding should be struck from political and electoral lexicons. It went from dying art to endangered species to dead on arrival. That is, stone cold dead!