Word that former President Bharrat Jagdeo has been chosen by the Commonwealth Secretariat to head its observer mission to Sri Lanka’s elections where Prime Minister Rajapakse faces a serious challenge evoked strong comment here. While undoubtedly he still has his supporters, a large number of persons here would deem Mr Jagdeo unsuitable for this mission. The Commonwealth’s report is usually received as one of the more important on elections observation particularly among countries that are members of this grouping of former British colonies. These reports produce a verdict on the quality of the governance of the elections being observed and whether they provide a basis for a fair result. Mr Jagdeo’s signature on the final report for the Sri Lanka elections will create a disjunction between its contents and his own poor governance of this country over the 12 years that he presided as President. There were undoubtedly bright spots during his tenure but for the most party many important sectors suffered from the sweep of his authoritarianism, injudicious decisions and the breakdown of the rule of law. While he cannot be faulted for any issues in the electoral arrangements for this country, it will be remembered that none other than his handpicked successor, President Ramotar astonishingly claimed that the 2011 elections here were rigged to deny his party an overall majority. This statement was made even though the Commonwealth observer mission to Guyana’s polls and other missions found no evidence of this. So Mr Jagdeo’s credibility as mission head could be under some pressure since his own party’s winning candidate questioned the outcome of the 2011 polls without providing any evidence of wrongdoing. Mr Jagdeo has not dissociated himself from this claim by President Ramotar.
The more important issue here for Guyanese is the observation of the next general elections here whenever they are held. It is hoped that President Ramotar will shortly name the date for the polls after which the electoral machinery will be put in place. There will be a lot riding on this election considering the ruling party’s loss of its majority and the three years of tense political gridlock that have since developed.
While the ruling party has said it is ready for general elections, its actions appear to be more in favour of stalling the process. Its reality is that it has lost thousands of votes from its base in the last two general elections and were there to be a repeat of this trend its position would worsen, building all types of pressure on it and the political dynamics of the country.
Observation of the processes leading up to elections, during the poll and after the poll is vitally important. Guyanese must be prepared to lend support to this process in the interest of ensuring that everything is above board and that there is satisfaction with the result. As many persons as possible should volunteer for the work which is undertaken at General Elections by the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) which has done yeoman’s service since 1992 in helping with voter education, observing on the day of the polls and presenting credible verdicts. As many civil society groups as possible should offer materiel and other aid to the Bureau.
One would expect that invitations from the government to observer missions would go far and wide and that these would include Caricom, the UN System, the Commonwealth, the OAS, UNASUR and the European Union. Given the constant attacks that have been mounted by the ruling party on the electoral machinery and the voter’s list, one can expect a very testing time. This would require the presence of the main missions and certainly the EAB on the ground weeks before the polls.
The key electoral reforms enacted for the 1992 General Elections make rigging very difficult and unlikely. However, given the rigged elections of the past, it is easy for troublemakers to create negative views of elections preparedness and to have these circulated widely. This is even more so with the disclosure following the last election that the parliamentary seat count was nearly the subject of a false public declaration by the then Chief Election Officer.
International observers have played an important part in calming nerves in recent elections here. More and more of this task should be taken on by local groups. It just simply requires a greater number of Guyanese volunteering.
