On an usually quiet street in downtown Kingston, scores of ordinary Guyanese from all backgrounds, take turns each hot day and long night to closely watch over more than a dozen dingy shipping containers stacked high.
Crammed with the precious cargo of ballot boxes from the March 2, 2020 regional and general elections, the locked metal units contain the hundreds of thousands of votes cast by eligible nationals, who had hoped that the new Government would have been smoothly in place three weeks later.
Now we are facing another equally grave threat, this one biological and equally insidious to our already precarious existence with the emergence of the novel coronavirus killer pandemic and the first COVID-19 cases in a vulnerable country, deemed as having among the region’s weakest health systems.
Yet this country’s post-electoral royal run around continues with no apparent smooth end in sight, as an out of touch incumbent President urges infinite patience and trust, even as loud calls mount for the preservation of Guyana’s fledgling democracy and the outcry intensifies over his dithering, inaction and selective blindness. Court cases drag on about the postponed recounting of votes, without any credible official results declared as yet for the prized Region Four following the departure of the CARICOM team that had sought an end to the lingering impasse, in the wake of the much publicised, crude and scandalous attempts at rigging within the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), right in front of incredulous international and local observers.
The ordinary act of quiet determination in keeping a public eye on the boxes, by party activists and leaders, the young and the elderly, farmers and doctors, have turned into an extraordinary moment of collective activism, since the Opposition and others fear the votes will be tampered with given the recent surreal series of events, and the much tainted election history of the main player, the People’s National Congress (PNC) in the governing APNU/AFC coalition.
Many outstanding young people have emerged as bright, fresh faces from the bunch of smaller parties that contested the polls. Some like the proud pilot turned independent politician, the charismatic indigenous leader Lenox Shuman are now well known, be it for their marked willingness to challenge conventions, or the courage to publicly stand behind their convictions whether through native dress or noticeable lack thereof, becoming a full-fledged “guardian of democracy” as the watchers of the ballot containers are being called.
Mr Shuman was among those who sounded the alarm right after witnessing the flagrant abuses at GECOM. Unsurprisingly, he pitched his cotton hammock and settled in for several hard days’ nights, resolute that his supporters’ voices must be heard and acknowledged whenever those votes are finally rechecked. The impromptu “guardian of democracy” movement launched when the containers containing the ballots were moved to the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC) at Liliendaal, to facilitate the recount that was expected to be supervised by the high level CARICOM team. When that initiative suddenly collapsed, the containers were returned to Kingston but without any prior notification of the parties, prompting alarm.
Activist, Ferlin Pedro posted online that, “The (COVID-19) virus is serving well during post-election drama. Watching ballot boxes may be subject to a penalty in due time.” He pointed to sweeping powers granted to the Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence by the President “to take steps to diagnose, prevent or check the disease including the prohibition or restriction of movement of persons and public and private conveyances of any kind whatsoever within and to and from an infected area.” She is authorised to ask the Guyana Police Force for help in enforcing the President’s directives. Lawrence’s signature was on the controversial form of the Region Four vote count published by GECOM and also signed off by the Returning Officer. Lawrence is Chairman of the PNCR.
Founding member of The New Movement (TNM) party, medical doctor Josh Kanhai, has joined the “guardians” looking over the ballot containers, and is offering advice on social distancing. He too, questioned the power to destroy “personal goods, buildings, material etc. that have been exposed to infected individual(s),” wondering, “How much more abuse of power do you foresee here?”
Dr. Kanhai raised concerns about the APNU-AFC trying to rig the polls, given that the coalition refused to resign despite suffering a no-confidence motion. “This is the very regime that found the first half man ever in the history of life,” he declared, in reference to what constituted a majority in our 65-member Parliament, and whether it was 33, 33.5 or 34.
“This is the regime that spent alleged GYD $75M for lawyers to go to the Caribbean Court of Justice to argue for their Half Man. This is the very same regime that had this country at an economic standstill for 456 days + post NCM. This is the very regime that has consistently and diligently disregard(ed) and disrespect(ed) the Constitution …This is the regime that tried to rig the election four times in front my eyes, those of my colleagues and the international community.”
He advised members of the Government, “So I urge you to think! I urge you to think about this country’s economy; think about the wellbeing of our people; think about the effects on our children. I urge you to not think with your brain but with a conscious heart. Throw out the pride, save yourselves while you can. Also, listen to the numerous cries for the recount. Why are you not confident that you won? You should happily want a recount. #Recount and let’s #keepmovingforward!#Guyana #Democracy #forthepeople.” On March 14 last, Dr Kanhai, 23, posted a viral note: “I sit here without any sort of feelings. I’m 23 years old, living in the 21st century and I am devastated by the sequence of illegitimate events occurring or should I say re-occurring. We usually get annoyed when our parents try to share their stories of past rigged election and more so annoyed when we heard how they had to form lines for food etc. I’d usually reply and say, ‘Man, those times gone. It wouldn’t happen again.’ Then came along March 2, 2020.
I sit now and ask, What did my generation do to have to live through our parents’ stories? Do we deserve this? Did you think before doing this? Are you in your right frame of mind? What or who is reassuring you that this nation will be okay after what you have done?
I’ll say that neither my generation nor our parents deserved this. I never thought I’d have such stories of my own to tell.
Thinking about this can make anyone with a sane, rational mind frustrated and depressed. It’s okay, I too feel this way. However, dig a bit further within yourself, as I am doing, and find that courage to #keepmovingforward. They have won that battle but we are ready for the long run. My people, take some time to mourn but afterwards we will need unity to restore our democracy. We will need all voices to be outspoken more than ever. We must not accept illegitimacy and lawlessness.
I’ve got a vision for this country that must be accomplished. Our country has potential and I rather it not go to waste or be untapped for any longer. #Guyana is not a los(t) cause so don’t lose hope. I need you, we need you, #Guyana needs you, #Democracy needs you. Now more than ever.”
ID hears the famous words of writer Alan Moore, in V for Vendetta “There’s no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There’s only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof.”
