GECOM is not the problem

Dec 07, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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…Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News- Democracy, they say is messy, unpredictable, and often misunderstood. But in Guyana, democracy feels more like a soap opera. At the heart of this drama are the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), the nation’s reigning experts in electoral chaos.

There is more concern over the democratic credentials of these two parties than with any alleged bias within the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Concerns about GECOM is akin to worrying about the color of the curtains in a house that’s on fire.

First, let’s set the stage—or courtroom, because that’s where most of the 2020 general and regional elections drama unfolded. It began with constitutional violations so creative they could rival a Picasso painting. There was the appointment of the GECOM Chairperson, an exercise that turned the Constitution into an interpretive dance routine. Then came the no-confidence motion, which should have resulted in the government resigning and calling fresh elections. Instead, it gave birth to what can only be described as creative math.

Apparently, the smallest majority of 65 isn’t 33 but, depending on your political allegiance, some mystical, esoteric number best left to numerologists and amateur magicians. Case law was twisted and stretched like pizza dough in a failed attempt to justify this reimagined arithmetic. All the while, the PNCR and AFC sat at the heart of the storm.

When the election results finally arrived, it wasn’t the calm after the storm but the eye of the hurricane. Between March and August 2020, the nation endured an electoral limbo. Legal challenges flew faster than mosquitoes, each one more inventive than the last. The PNCR and AFC stood firm, not as defenders of democracy, but as its mischievous antagonists.

And yet, here we are in 2024, with no evidence that either party has undergone a Damascus-like conversion to the principles of electoral democracy. The PNCR has not apologized. The AFC, ever the bold contrarian, had the audacity to ask, “What should we apologize for?”—a question so brazen it’s almost admirable.

Let’s not forget that these are the same parties that sought to benefit from what can only be described as an attempted electoral heist. Their actions were not minor misdemeanors but full-blown capers. And yet, no remorse, no mea culpa, just a collective shrug and a continuation of business as usual.

This brings us to GECOM, the institution everyone loves to hate. Is there bias within GECOM? Perhaps. But when the two loudest critics of GECOM’s supposed partiality are the same parties that orchestrated the 2020 electoral fiasco, it’s hard to take their concerns seriously.

And here’s the kicker: Despite their track record, the PNCR and AFC continue to want to participate in elections as if nothing happened. This is the equivalent of allowing a fox not just to guard the henhouse but to manage the local KFC franchise. Surely, there should be some accountability, a moment of reckoning where we collectively say, “Enough!” But no, in the grand tradition of Guyanese politics, the show must go on.

So why are Guyanese so fixated on the democratic credentials of these two parties? Is it nostalgia? A sense of morbid curiosity? Or perhaps, deep down, we all love a good villain. After all, what’s a soap opera without a scheming antagonist?

In truth, the PNCR and AFC have offered no assurances that 2020 was an aberration rather than a template. And yet, here they are, ready for the next election, as if their actions were merely a “bad day at the office.”

It’s enough to make you wonder: Do these parties belong in a democratic system? Or should they be relegated to the political wilderness, where they can contemplate their sins in the company of their own echoes? Some might argue for a ban on their participation in future elections, a drastic measure but one that might finally inject some accountability into a system sorely lacking it.

Until then, the Guyanese electorate remains caught in this absurdist drama, torn between the past, the present, and the faint hope of a future where democracy is more than just a punchline. And who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll get the democracy we deserve.

While GECOM may have its flaws—what institution doesn’t? —the real problem lies with those who see GECOM as the problem. These are the actors who undermine its work, manipulate its processes, and cry foul only when the results don’t go their way. In truth, it’s not GECOM that’s threatening democracy; it’s the unrepentant forces that treat elections like a game to be won at any cost.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

(GECOM is not the problem)

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• Alliance For Change, GECOM, GECOM is not the problem, Peeping Tom, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)

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