The democracy watch

Jun 07, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom…

Kaieteur News – In March of 2020, the people of Guyana voted. They went to the polls with the usual hopes: for a better life, for less corruption, for fair play. They stood in long lines believing still in the old romance of the ballot. They voted early, voted late, and then waited with patience for the results to be tabulated.

But something happened after that—something sinister, something shabby. A handful of persons tried to twist the figures in one Region alone. A strange brand of verification took place – where votes were discounted here and then added. And so began an anxious and disheartening chapter, where democracy stood on a precipice and held its breath.

What saved that election—what saved Guyana—was not simply law or logic, but pressure. Foreign pressure. The United States, under then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, spoke first and firmly. Canada and the United Kingdom followed. The European Union raised its eyebrows. CARICOM made its own quiet, crucial interventions, and so too did the Commonwealth and the Organization of American States. Their voices may have differed in tone, but the message was one: if you intend to rig this thing, there will be consequences.

And that is how the farce was forestalled. Not because the culprits suddenly acquired conscience, but because the world was watching and would not permit the spectacle. It is not a comfortable truth to admit, that a small sovereign nation had to be rescued from itself. But truth has no obligation to be comfortable. It need only be told.
Now, five years later, the air is heavy again. There is a rustling among the old players, and from the sound of it, some are rehearsing the same old script. Doubt is being sown like rice before the rains. The credibility of the electoral process is being questioned in advance—not after evidence, but in anticipation. And the pattern is a familiar one: cry foul before the game is played, and then claim you were robbed when you lose.

The concern here is not merely for the integrity of the election, but for the soul of the country. A people cannot keep rescuing democracy from its own politicians. Nor should they need the glare of foreign capitals every time they go to vote. But if history teaches anything, it is that vigilance is not a one-time chore. It is a perennial obligation.
For over thirty years, the Western democracies—Canada, Britain, the United States, the European Union—have devoted considerable resources to ensuring Guyana’s elections are free and fair. They have sent monitors, funded civic education, and lent legitimacy to results. These days, the money is no longer needed but the importance of the presence of western democracies has not diminished. It may be even more critical now, when subtler forms of sabotage could be being planned.

Civil society in Guyana has its work cut out. Churches, chambers of commerce, trade unions, NGOs—these bodies, along with the influential private sector, must now speak with one voice: a call for the international community to not only monitor, but to warn. Let it be made clear, well in advance, that any attempt to frustrate the democratic will of the people will be met with swift and painful penalties. Sanctions. Visa bans. Economic censure. Whatever it takes.

Some will bristle at this—call it external meddling. But it is not meddling to insist that elections reflect the will of the voter. It is not interference to object to fraud. It is, rather, the plainest kind of solidarity.

The opposition, or elements within it, must know that the past is not so distant. The memory of 2020 is still sharp. If they attempt again to stir chaos or confusion, they must be greeted not with polite reprimands, but with consequences. The world must not wait for the smoke to rise before calling in the fire brigade. The time to act is now—to declare, in calm and certainty, that any deviation from the path of democracy will be met with resolute international resistance.

What is needed is not only reaction but prevention. We know what was attempted before. We know who attempted it. And we know what stopped it. The script is already written. What remains is the casting and the staging. If the would-be riggers know the play won’t end well for them, they may think twice before stepping on the stage.
This is not a matter of partisan politics. It is a matter of national dignity. If Guyana is to stand proud among the democracies of the world, it must hold elections that do not require rescuing. But until that maturity is attained—until our institutions are immune to mischief—it falls to others, still, to help protect what is most sacred in a republic: the right to vote, and to have that vote counted honestly.

Let there be no ambiguity. Let the world say it plainly and early: democracy, here, will be defended. The watchers are still watching.

And this time, let them not be surprised.

(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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• Democracy, Election, fair play, Peeping Tom

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