If there is one thing this election season has demonstrated, it is that we desperately need some kind of legislative reform to ensure that each party has equal opportunity during the campaign to make its case to voters and that none of them enjoys an insuperable built-in advantage to which the others do not have access. During the run-up to the election of 2006, these issues were less in the forefront of attention as the emphasis was on what the opposition regarded as a flawed voters list. However, since Gecom has prepared an entirely new list of electors which will now allow for continuous registration, greater attention has been focused on other areas which are inimical to a fair poll.
What has been going on in this campaign is not new – and neither, for that matter, are the complaints about it nor even the proposals to rectify the situation – but this time it is just more brazen. Foremost among the issues of concern is the blatant use of state resources by the ruling party as a campaign tool to induce voters to mark their X next to the cup on November 28. It is the closest anyone can come to buying votes in this country and still be technically on the right side of the law. It has been going on in all parts of the country to a greater or lesser degree, but nowhere has this practice been more in evidence than in Amerindian areas, for reasons which hardly need restating.
The PPP rally in Region Nine last Sunday was a case in point, only it had a novel twist. On that occasion the Governor of Brazil’s Roraima state mounted the PPP/C platform to praise President Jagdeo. Leaving aside for the moment his impropriety, how can the ruling party believe that such utter disdain for election protocols which are universally accepted in normal democracies – including Brazil – would go unremarked? Clearly the presence of Governor José Anchieta Junior at the rally was intended to convey to the audience and Rupununi citizens in general the impression that he had a special relationship with the PPP/C. The implications for the residents who have links at all levels with Brazil and are dependent on Brazilian economic investment were perfectly clear: a vote for the ruling party would mean the continuation of ‘benefits’ from the state of Roraima.
After the opposition parties raised serious objections with the Brazilian Ambassador in Georgetown, the Brazilian government issued a statement reiterating its position of non-intervention and neutrality in relation to Guyana’s elections. There is no problem with that as far as it goes. However the statement continued: “…the presence of a Brazilian authority to salute the communities at the above-mentioned meeting should not be construed as a support for any of the political parties contesting the forthcoming elections.” That is unmitigated codswallop, of course, since as mentioned above the Governor also went on to praise President Jagdeo, which can certainly be construed as support for a political party.
The embassy also volunteered that when the Governor heard of President Jagdeo’s visit to Lethem, he took the opportunity to meet him in order to discuss subjects related to the border as well as the integration between Roraima and Guyana. More codswallop. Just which Governor of Mr Anchieta’s standing is going to seize the opportunity to discuss weighty border matters and integration with a President who at that point had all of 22 days left in office – unless, of course, he plans to be the power behind the throne should Mr Ramotar happen to accede to the presidency on November 29, and the Governor is acknowledging that. PPP/C Campaign Manager Robert Persaud took a similar line, claiming that the “President met [with the Governor of Roraima] to discuss several projects that will benefit the citizens of both Guyana and Brazil.” One can only ask again, exactly what national projects will a head of state in the twilight of his presidency be seeing to fruition? Once again too, are there some special plans for Mr Jagdeo if his party wins the elections that voters should be told about?
The governors of Brazil’s states have considerable autonomy from the federal government, and it is possible that Itamaraty knew nothing about Mr Anchieta’s blunder until it became public in Georgetown. However, even if that is the case, in practical terms it makes little difference, and a statement from the neighbouring government averring that Brasilia is neutral in relation to Guyana’s elections after there has been a clear case of interference is simply inadequate; at the very minimum, the governor himself should offer an apology.
But securing a public declaration of implied support from a neighbouring Brazilian state was not all that the PPP/C was up to in Lethem last weekend. It also distributed flood relief. It should be understood that this relief related to a flood which took place in June this year, and had taken four months to reach the victims after assessments had been done. There are only two possibilities here: either this is a case of unbelievable inefficiency, disorganization and incompetence at the regional and/or national levels, or the funds were deliberately withheld to be distributed just before the election to coincide with a ruling party rally in Lethem. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the second of these possibilities is the correct one, considering that the money was distributed, not from any of the regional offices, but from the PPP/C office in Lethem. In other words, relief for residents who have very few resources and who suffered substantial losses in the flooding earlier this year, was treated as a party hand-out, with all the subterranean political significance which attaches to that.
If that act of political expediency and campaign malpractice were not sufficient, a letter from Mr Clairmont Lye which appeared in this newspaper drew attention to other irregularities as well. Among other things he raised the issue of the “authenticity of the names of persons who received the $20,000 cash relief.” He referred to 100 “valid names” being removed from the original lists, while several persons who live on “high ground” and were not therefore victims of the flood were added to the lists. These included in one case, “four relatives of a party supporter working in the administration office,“ whose names had not been approved by the village Toshao and so were not submitted to the REO.
As a member of the Lethem Citizens’ Committee, Mr Lye has called for an investigation into this matter before the election, since clearly it represents fraud at some level. Mr Lye is known by everyone as a man of great integrity, and if the government does not follow up on this disclosure with some alacrity, the inevitable conclusions will be drawn.
