Irfaan Ali is internationally recognised as the democratically elected and installed President of Guyana

Apr 28, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Imagine you lend a friend your car reluctantly and only because he keeps telling you how he has an important appointment that could change his life. You lend him the car and hours after you see him coming down the road… walking.
Before he gets to you, he begins to shout, “What did you do? Why did you lend me your car? I almost died. The car was totalled in an accident and I was lucky to come out alive. You should never have lent me that car.”
This barefaced reaction of blaming the victim can be compared to that of the APNU+AFC. They tried to steal an election and lost and now they want to put the blame on the PPP/C whom they attempted, barefacedly, to cheat out of the elections.
Of all the narratives, which are being pedalled, this one is the most disgusting. You lost the elections and now you’re trying to blame the PPP/C for doing what you did. That is ‘barefacedness’ to the maximum.
The APNU+AFC had a mini protest following the tossing of its second election petition. The first petition, which was supposed to have established election irregularities was previously thrown out because of problems with service. One day, questions are going to be asked as to how it was that the filers of the petition failed to serve the petition on time to the Presidential candidate of the APNU+AFC.
The second petition challenged the constitutionality of the Recount Order. It was the last straw and desperate attempt by the losers of the elections to try to make illegitimate the PPP/C’s electoral victory.
The same trick was tried in 1997. The PNC/R agreed to a voter identification card and after they lost the elections and failed to steal it in the streets, they challenged the constitutionality of the very voter identification card to which they had given their consent.
This is the sort of hypocritical and shamefaced politics for which the PNC/R is notorious. In fact, it was this very aspect – the constitutionality of the voter identification card – which led to the vitiation of the 1997 elections by then Justice Claudette Singh.
The then Chairman of GECOM was succeeded by another and there was no appeal to Justice Singh’s decision even though the former Chairman was morally entitled to be able to challenge the ruling that the voter identification card was unconstitutional. Even if it was, it needs to be questioned whether this was sufficient enough grounds on which to vitiate an election since there was no evidence that the voter identification card disenfranchised anyone.
Following the incidents involving the spread sheet and later the bed sheet, the President agreed to a Recount. GECOM voted in favour of this Recount also. Yet, it is the very APNU+AFC, which supported the challenge to the constitutionality of the very Recount which its President accepted.
The petition challenging the constitutionality of the Recount Order was thrown out. And the APNU+AFC has indicated – and this is within its right – that it will appeal the decision.
So why then if it had redress through the courts was it necessary for the supporters to attempt to create problems yesterday in the heart of the city. These actions should not be condoned. The police can easily access the images and footage, which are available on social media. They can use these to identify the persons involved in destruction of property and in disorderly behaviour and use this to charge those responsible.
All those who are attempting to create disturbance in the country must be sent a strong signal that the law-abiding and peace-loving citizens of Guyana will not tolerate this sort of lawlessness.
Neither will they entertain this shameless narrative about an installed government. There is nothing illegitimate about an installed government. All governments have to be installed following elections. Installation involved taking the oaths of office and appointments. The peddlers of this narrative are attempting to mislead people into believing that the villains are the victims of electoral manipulation. But people are not easily fooled.
The United States recognises the PPP/C administration as the legitimate Government of Guyana. The then US Secretary of State congratulated Mohamed Irfaan Ali on becoming the President of Guyana and noted that his electoral victory reflected a free, fair, credible and transparent electoral process that respects the rule of law and the will of the Guyanese people. Not one of the countries with which Guyana has diplomatic relations has refused to recognise the Ali government.
The whole world knows who were responsible for the attempt to rig the elections. Those now responsible for whitewashing the rigging must be exposed. And there should be stepped-up efforts to ensure that the visa revocations of the riggers are not rescinded… ever.

(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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