Hundreds of self-styled ‘Guardians of Democracy’ gather daily to keep watch on the ballot boxes from the March 2 general and regional elections which are seen as key to finally establishing the winner and end the crisis that has gripped the country three weeks on.
The boxes are stored at the headquarters of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in Kingston, Georgetown. Some had been controversially moved on Friday without political parties being notified.
For the persons, who are supporters of political parties and members of civil society, keeping watch on the ballot boxes has not been an easy task but they are of the belief that the sacrifice must be made to protect the ballots from being tampered with. The gatherings occur despite a global novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis that has seen dozens of countries shutting their borders and locking down cities and persons urged to isolate themselves to try to combat the spread of the disease which has claimed thousands of lives.
The movement started last Monday when the containers containing the ballots were moved to the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC) at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown to facilitate a recount, which was expected to be supervised by a high level team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). That initiative later collapsed and the containers were returned to Kingston on Friday from the ACCC.
Supporters of the main opposition party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) along with supporters from the smaller parties, such as The Citizenship Initiative, A New and United Guyana, the Liberty and Justice Party, The New Movement, along with others, have been camping out day and night to keep watch over the ballot boxes.
Between 6:30pm and 11:30pm, hundreds have been congregating on Cowan Street close to GECOM. After that time, the crowd disperses though a smaller group remains. Throughout the day, some persons with free time would pass by and assist in keeping watch.
Almost three weeks after the March 2 polls, official results are yet to be declared by GECOM with the contentious count of the Region Four vote decried as flawed by a number of stakeholders, including international observers. Several matters related to the tabulation and declaration have been filed in court with one challenging a recount set to resume in the High Court today.
Asif Mohamed, one of the persons who has been keeping watch from the inception, told Stabroek News that it is important that they keep watch on the storage containers since it “is the last string of hope we have because everything else gone. It is important that these containers are not tampered and it stays safe for a recount.”
According to him, he would not like to witness a repeat of history and see his children live through another “dark” era.
“Our main concern is to make sure what has happened in [the] history of our country post elections years ago don’t happen again. It is important that we protect our ballots and this is very serious because we don’t know what can happen. If we have a president who cannot respect the Constitution after a no-confidence motion, what else can happen? We don’t want a repeat in history,” Mohamed said.
Him and others who were present when Stabroek News visited yesterday afternoon, said they are doing this for the future of Guyana and they hope that their movement will prevent the country from turning into a dictatorship.
At the time of this newspaper’s visit, mainly supporters of the PPP/C were present at the location.
“The future of Guyana is in those boxes and it is not the future for us but the children. If we don’t protect that now we lose that ballot box [and] we won’t get it back for years,” Mohamed said, as he argued that Guyana can easily slip “into a dictatorship.”
“We are here to protect and prevent that. This country cannot go into a dictatorship…This struggle we are going through is to maintain our democracy because without democracy Guyana is going nowhere,” he said.
Chattergoon Jadoopat, another supporter, related that they have been working in shifts. He said many persons would stop by after work and volunteer to keep watch.
“They are saying this is a PPP initiative but it is not. It is about all of Guyana because everyone else from the small parties and civil society are coming out to offer support and volunteer. They come and go. There are people who come on their own; these are people who are interested in seeing democracy prevail,” one man interjected.
Guardians of Democracy
Elaborating on the name of the movement, Jadoopat explained that it was birthed out of a conversation while they were keeping watch at the ACCC.
“We are to protect our votes that are in those containers. We have our votes in those containers and we are here guarding it and standing up for democracy…Everybody knows their votes are in there and it is important that it stays safe for the recount,” he stressed.
Persons have been donating food and beverages for the gathering.
“Every single thing here is donated. We haven’t asked for nothing but people has been donating food, water, coffee, tea with other things to help us,” Jadoopat said.
According to them, they have been asking persons to desist from coming to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but persons keep showing up.
In this regard, Mohamed said, they have received donations of sanitation products from persons. At the site, there is a tank with water and liquid soap. Apart from that, they have bottles of rubbing alcohol and hand sanitisers to distribute to persons who visit and spend time. Mohamed said these steps are necessary since the virus is present here and they need to take precautionary measures.
