APNU and courts over elections

Jun 03, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The Opposition APNU has to come to its senses sooner than later, or it risks making itself into a bigger laughing stock than Guyana and its oil management. If the APNU Opposition is going to be of any relevance, any value, to its own supporters, and to the wider Guyanese society, then it is going to have to come awake in a hurry, and show that it is alive. To the disappointment of many observers, the Opposition has failed to do any of these things. In fact, it could be accurately said that the Opposition has not pulled its weight, and has increasingly taken on the appearance of a dinosaur, and a lost cause.

Though it has been said often enough, we must say it again: democracy works well when there is a viable and a credible political Opposition. It is one that knows when to engage the government of the day, and when to put up a spirited resistance against policies and programs that have a high probability of heaping devastating consequences on citizens, and the national Treasury also in so doing. The citizens of a country benefit immensely, when there is the check and balance of a vigorous Opposition, one that is visible and audible and sensible. We do not think, and there is the belief that a great many Guyanese would agree, that the APNU Opposition has manifested these attributes to any convincing degree.

Take the instance of the recent High Court case filed by the APNU Opposition relative to the voters’ list published by GECOM for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE). The Opposition has long held the contention that voters’ lists are inherently flawed because they are loaded with dead people, and thousands who have left these shores and taken up permanent residence overseas. Whatever the merits of the Opposition’s position that drove its filing in the High Court, it cannot be on the basis of opinion, or conjecture. or the anecdotal, however such was compiled.

This was the position of Chief Justice (ag) Ms. Roxanne Wilshire-George, who was rather scathing, and to some degree impatient. The words of her ruling on the matter brought by the APNU Opposition are clear and have a certain ring to them. “The document has unsubstantiated jottings on it that speak to persons being deceased or not living in the area. This is inadmissible evidence that cannot be relied on by the court. Even if the evidence was admissible, its content was unreliable as there is no evidence of the source of the information mentioned in the jottings.”

The Opposition has to know that courts cannot and do not make decisions based on “unsubstantiated jottings” and what was described as content that was “unreliable.” It is one thing to harbor beliefs of tricky political schemes and shenanigans by political adversaries contesting LGE polls. It is quite another matter to approach the bar for relief without facts that possess some solid foundation and enough credibility to move adjudicators towards the kind of decisions sought. Facts that can be substantiated and which stand up to probing and rigorous scrutiny are what usually compel courts to cure the deficit claimed. Substance and strength in filings are what regularly sway the judge presiding over a case.

As the acting Chief Justice made clear, “Litigants must appreciate that courts rely on evidence, not unsubstantiated opinions or conjecture.” Evidence is tangible, evidence is provable, and evidence is believable. Indeed, there may be electoral mischief in action, for that has been a norm in this country from the beginning. But conjecture only goes so far, and is of zero utility when such comes up for any degree of proper scrutiny. Conjecture falls apart and, to be frank about this, it wastes the precious time of a court system that many know is heavily congested.

The Opposition has to get its act together, and pick its battles wisely. If it has evidence that is substantial, and not marginal, then there is every reason for tough court challenges to what is happening. On the other hand, if it is clutching at any straw that is floating in the wind, then the group only opens itself to more ridicule and dismissal.

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