While still maintaining confidence that the governing APNU+AFC coalition has won the disputed March 2 general elections, the AFC yesterday said that whichever party forms the next government must show “magnanimity” and “accede” to an agreed governance pact that encompasses shared governance and “national unity”.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) position comes amid the overwhelming view among local analysts that the governing coalition lost the general elections and that a rearguard rigging effort to hand them victory has been stalled by the courts and local and international condemnation.
Political analysts say that the call for shared governance will ring hollow as the AFC had not pressed for this in the period prior to the election or while in government with its main coalition partner, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
The shift in its position also comes in the wake of one of its executives, Dominic Gaskin, expressing doubt about the figures produced by controversial Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo showing that the coalition had won Region Four with a sufficiently wide margin to enable it to be the overall winner.
Mingo’s figures have been lambasted and are now the subject of court hearings even as elements within the Guyana Elec-tions Commission (GECOM) have been accused of attempting to blatantly rig the general elections in favour of APNU+AFC.
In the statement last night, the AFC said that GECOM is the only constitutional authority empowered to independently supervise elections and the Party will abide by its rulings and declarations.
“Perceived anomalies in tabulations should not render an entire constitutional institution dysfunctional. There are available legal mechanisms for correcting these anomalies through fact and evidence-based proceedings. Any aggrieved party must utilize those proceedings in order to prevent a breakdown of law and order in our beloved country”, the AFC said.
Critics have said that the “perceived anomalies” in tabulation cited by the AFC constituted the crudest of rigging at the level of GECOM and that neither the AFC nor APNU had shown the slightest interest in investigating this.
The AFC also reaffirmed its faith in the Courts as a main “constitutional pillar” for dispassionately dispensing justice. The Party said it is committed to respecting the decisions of the Court and called on all Guyanese to do so.
The Party also said it welcomed the presence of regional and international observers and representatives of friendly states and “asks that they too respect the constitutional right of Guyanese citizens to access established legal and constitutional mechanisms for settling disputes”.
Five international observer groups expressed dismay over the figures churned out by the Mingo and one of them: the Organisation of American States pulled out in disgust. The Carter Center the Commonwealth, the Euro-pean Union and CARICOM missions have also left while reiterating that without a valid count for Region Four the election result will not be credible.
A deal brokered by CARICOM for a recount of all the regions has since been thwarted by an APNU+AFC candidate.
The AFC said it remains confident that the APNU+AFC Coalition was victorious in the elections and expects the final declarations and rulings to confirm this. It then went on to make an appeal for shared governance which appeal it had never made prior to the elections or in the immediate aftermath. Its coalition partner APNU has also not shown any interest in this.
“In light of the current tense political environment the AFC believes that regardless of the final declarations of GECOM and the rulings of the Courts to come, it is incumbent on our national leaders on both sides of the political divide to take bold and decisive action in the interest of achieving national unity, healing and reconciliation. A repeat of our bitter history of post elections violence and the propensity for ethnic conflicts must be avoided at all costs.
“The AFC holds the view that Guyana is at a moment in history when a concerted effort must be made to rid our country of its protracted and debilitating ethnic divisions. No Government can be oblivious to this difficult but necessary mission. The Party therefore calls on our national leaders to immediately commence talks in good faith to achieve those objectives of unity, healing and reconciliation. The AFC has authorised its leaders to actively participate in that critical exercise.
“To this end, the Alliance For Change maintains that following the completion of all legal and constitutional proceedings, it is imperative that the Party that is legally empowered to form the next government must show magnanimity and accede to an agreed governance arrangement that involves shared governance, national unity and constitutional reform”, the party said.
It proposed that, at a minimum, the proposed talks should include arrangements for:
A Government of National Unity for a mutually agreed defined period
A census and national registration exercise to be undertaken and completed within the life of the national unity government
Constitutional reform to be pursued and completed within the life of the national unity government, which must include a reform of our electoral system.
“The AFC is committed to this pathway. The Party calls on all political parties, civic leaders and indeed all citizens to go beyond the recurring political rhetoric and open avenues to achieve national unity. This will certainly avoid the potential for … racial violence”, the party said.
The party’s reference to the spectre of racial violence will raise concerns as the key issue to be resolved is free and fair elections which local and international groups and Western countries have pressed for since March 2nd.
The AFC’s reference to the need for constitutional reform will not be seen as credible as the governing coalition failed to give life to its own promise of constitutional reform in 2015 within a specific timeframe. Furthermore the matter was entrusted to AFC executive, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo who has been excoriated for not having accomplished anything on this front.
While calls for shared governance have flowed from various quarters recently, they have been seen as opportunistic and intended to get around the key question of establishing the result of the election and enabling the swearing in of the winner.
The AFC’s failure to hold APNU accountable while they were in government has been seen as a key reason for the defection of swing voters at the March 2 polls to other parties.
