Dear Editor,
The issue of free, fair and credible elections is uppermost in the minds of Guyanese. This is so because of the very history of past elections, especially during the post-independence period when all elections were rigged to perpetuate the life of the then PNC regime. It was not until the elections on October 5, 1992 that democratic elections were finally restored, thanks to the intervention of the United States through the Carter Center and other western powers.
There are some who seek to apportion blame equally between the PPP and the PNC for the rigging of elections to obtain political power. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is grossly unfair to the PPP. Indeed, it was the PPP that received, as it were, the short end of the stick in all elections since 1964 and from all indications this coming elections are potentially fraught with electoral drama not dissimilar to what obtained during the pre-1992 period.
Whatever else can be said of the PPP, there is one fact that cannot be contested, which is that the PPP, unlike the PNC, has consistently abided by the democratic norms of our country as reflected in free and fair elections.
This coming elections will be the first since the historic1992 elections in which the PPP will not be in the seat of power. In the May 2015 elections, the PPP narrowly lost the elections to the APNU+AFC coalition albeit under questionable circumstances which are being challenged by the PPP/C in the Court. This matter is still be heard and seems unlikely to come up given the successful passage of the no-confidence vote.
It is in the above context that the issue of a politically neutral Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission has to be seen. The fact that both the political opposition and the ruling coalition have equal representation on the Commission means that the appointment of a mutually agreed Chairman is a necessary condition for there to be any level of confidence in the ability of GECOM to deliver free and credible elections. The CCJ has ruled that the current GECOM Chairman was unconstitutionally appointed but despite the ruling there is no indication that the Chairman is about to take his leave anytime soon.
The CCJ, in its most recent hearing yesterday, deferred the issue of the consequential orders on both the no-confidence vote and the appointment of the GECOM Chairman until July 12. Many Guyanese were expecting the CCJ to deliver on its Orders much earlier. The fact that the Court was unable to do so is indicative of the difficulty of arriving at that delicate balance ‘between practicality and principle’ as alluded to earlier by the Court.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
