How soon is soon?

Mar 06, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Days after taking the oath of office, President Irfaan Ali promised then, that soon there would be a review of events related to the elections of 2nd March, 2020. He said that this would be to determine, forensically what happened and to hold those responsible for perverting the process.
This statement, made by the President, was widely interpreted as indicating that there would be a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the attempt to steal the elections. One and a half years later, there has been no COI.
Criminal charges have been filed against persons. But there are others who are believed to have been complicit in the plot to derail the elections. They are yet to be charged or subject to investigation for their actions.
One year after his inauguration, President Ali again committed to an inquiry. He was quoted as saying that despite the on-going court cases, his government was committed to identifying the individuals responsible for the election’s fiasco and fraud.
He made it clear that this was necessary to ensure that Guyana never again experiences “such a barefaced attempt at facilitating attempts to steal an election.” He even said that the process had commenced to find suitable names to be part of the process. That was in August last year, more than six months ago.
An international Commission of Inquiry is the best and fairest means to find out what happened between 2nd March, 2020 and 2nd August, of the same year. It is the best means of getting to the very bottom of it all and of fairly identifying and holding those responsible for perverting the elections.
There was a similar attempt to upend the elections in the United States of America. Some people are of the view that the Republicans, having seen what happened in Guyana, attempted to do the same but when this failed, they opted for more drastic measures, including storming the Capitol, the seat of Congress.
Criminal charges have been filed against persons who were involved in that riotous action. The law enforcement agencies are continuing to find those involved and press charges.
However, the United States has also launched a Congressional inquiry into the incident. This inquiry is on-going and you can bet that when it is completed those who are implicated, regardless of their political status, are going to have to face the consequences.
While America is proceeding to purge its shame and to identify and punish those behind the attempt to storm the seat of Congress, the Guyana government appears to have abandoned the plan to investigate what happened in its elections. And one must ask why this is so.
Unless those who were complicit in the plot to rig the 2020 elections are identified and held accountable, they will risk it again. Unless the political masterminds behind this plot are exposed and brought to justice, then there is bound to be future attempts to rig the elections.
One of the defining features of the local election’s environment was how many persons were determined not to allow the will of the people to be jeopardised. The young people in particular wanted nothing to do with rigged elections. They abhorred the dishonesty which took place and which was witnessed by the international observers.
The failure to commence the COI into the elections of 2nd March, 2020 makes a mockery of the international observers who were bold enough to indicate what they witnessed and refused to certify the bogus results which were being foisted onto the nation. It is imperative, therefore, that a Commission of Inquiry be held into what took place.
The people of Guyana already know some of those who participated in actions aimed at perverting the tabulation of the ballots and the final results. But the plot had to have gone deeper and had to have involved persons within the ruling APNU+AFC. So who were the political masterminds behind this devious plot to destroy electoral democracy?
Guyanese want to know and deserve to know these things. While those who stood up in defence of democracy would also wish to be appreciated, the greater demand should be for bringing to justice those involved in the diabolical plot to return Guyana to political dictatorship.
One Guyanese man took protest action outside the US embassy calling for sanctions. He died soon after. It would be a dishonour to his bravery to shelve the plan to have an inquiry into the elections.
A COI will effectively serve these purposes. It will allow for witnesses to be summoned to give evidence about what took place. It will allow for those witnesses to be interrogated about the evidence they give.
The pussyfooting should cease. It is time to get the inquiry going. Guyana must not have to brace itself for a repeat performance in 2025. The best way to avoid this is to ensure that those who attempted to steal the elections are held accountable.
(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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