First, exercise your right to vote. It is one of the most cherished and fundamental rights you possess and it is your opportunity to have a role in the grand scheme of governance. As the author Louis L’Amour said “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Second, do nothing to cause a breach of the peace or to incite others by engaging in tendentious arguments or baiting. Let everyone else have a chance to exercise their franchise.
Third, await the official results.
Fourth, do not allow yourself to be used in any attempt to subvert the democratic process.
We also directed a special appeal to polling day staff. “Please execute your obligations and tasks professionally, efficiently and honestly. The 1997 elections drove home starkly how deliberateness and/or carelessness by Presiding Officers in not signing statements of poll and not acting in accordance with the established rules triggered numerous problems that were later amplified and used to discredit the end result in 1997.”
We also think it is important to address our colleagues in the media. Many of the media houses this year reaffirmed their commitment to a code of conduct for the media. This code sets out the professional standards that are required of the media.
The first article of section 11 of the code is instructive. “To refrain from the publishing or broadcasting of any matter with the potential for, or likelihood of promoting or inciting racial hatred, bias or contempt or any matter with the potential for, or likelihood of, promoting or causing public disorder, posing or becoming a threat to the security of the nation”.
Further, article 4 of the code urges media houses “To refrain from ridiculing, stigmatizing or demonizing people on any grounds including gender, race, class, ethnicity, language, religion, age, place of origin, sexual orientation and physical or mental ability.
“This requirement includes the avoidance of ethnic or religious abuse by readers, listeners, or viewers in letters columns or feedback programmes or during live or recorded broadcasts. Proper editorial, presentation and production control skills and techniques must be used to minimize the possibility of incitement caused by allowing democratic free speech to lapse into the promotion of hatred and violence.”
Unfortunately, this year, the tenor of the political campaign has been exceedingly negative and there have been many ad hominen attacks, slanderous remarks and pure vulgarity. It is the responsibility of the media to stand above this negativity and low talk and to eschew the publishing of these attacks. In the days ahead, the media and in particular the broadcast media have to be exceedingly careful not to allow rumour and innuendo to sully the electoral process or to create divisive and emotive tales. A prime example of this was the case last week involving a quartet of young men being intercepted in Non Pareil and beaten by villagers on the assumption that they had been on the verge of committing a robbery. Such vigilantism is rife with dangers and fuelled by the tension accompanying the electoral season. As it now transpires, the police said the quartet was not attempting to commit a robbery and their assailants have now been charged. Cooler heads have to prevail.
We also urge the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to do everything within its power to ensure that results from the various electoral districts are efficiently gathered, collated and released to the public. The longer it takes for these results to be released the more time there is for troublemakers to sow the seeds of dissent and unrest. For a long time now, GECOM has had this problem within its sights and we hope that adequate arrangements have been made. Previous elections have had the public strung out for days. There is no reason why this should be. The counting of the votes cannot be considered a Herculean task even if the geographic diversity of the country is taken into account.
In this age of cell towers and internet-based communications there can be no excuse for untimely delivery of results.
Region Four, because of its size, has always tended to be the straggler in terms of delivery of results. We trust that measures have been put in place to tackle this and that the distraction of the objections by political parties to the previous Region Four Returning Officer will not get in the way.
We urge all political parties and the media to ensure that in the handling of complaints they receive from voters that they process these in a responsible manner and engage the staff of GECOM professionally so that problems could be rectified. They also bear an enormous responsibility on polling day and its aftermath to calm fears and to avoid disorder.
All those eligible to vote should do so and do this early. There should be no concerns that chicanery is afoot as there are many safeguards in place and experienced observers from the Electoral Assistance Bureau, the Commonwealth, Caricom, the Organisation of American States and foreign missions in Guyana on the ground.
The process of democratic renewal must be availed to all, received by all and viewed as a means of ensuring that no group is disenfranchised. As Nancy Neuman of the US League of Women Voters once said “Lower voter participation is a silent threat to our democracy…It under-represents young people, the poor, the disabled, those with little education, minorities and you and me.”
The future of the country is at stake and at the same time the opportunity is available for those who think they have the best prescriptions to be put to the test. The choice is now in the hands of the discerning voter.
In a statement on its observation of the 2006 General Election here, the Carter Center had this to say:
“If Guyana is to realize its great potential and be genuinely responsive to all its citizens, the government of Guyana must be perceived as the government of all the people and must equitably distribute the benefits derived from the efforts of all. The challenge facing Guyana’s leaders is to use these elections as an opportunity to build new bridges, engage in genuine and sustained dialogue, and develop mechanisms that will allow Guyanese, down to the community level, to have confidence that the instruments devised for their governance address the needs of all.
“To achieve these goals, the parties should redouble efforts to ensure full implementation of the constitutional reforms agreed upon following the Herdmanston Accord – an important step towards building greater inclusiveness in the nation’s institutions and practices of governance. The Standing Committee on Constitutional (Reform) provides a forum for political parties and civil society to deliberate on constitutional and electoral reforms for the future. Finally, the National Development Strategy, unanimously endorsed by the last parliament, provides another framework for cooperative efforts to achieve common long-term objectives. These mechanisms and institutions should be nurtured to deepen the democratic process.”
There clearly is still much work to be done on all sides and it is our expectation that the government that emerges after today’s elections will seriously address these issues and immediately begin setting arrangements in place for local government elections.
