Dear Editor,
It must have been excruciatingly painful, highly embarrassing, for Dr Riyad Insanally, Guyana’s Ambassador to Washington and Permanent Representative to the OAS, to listen to a former Jamaican Prime Minister’s, Mr Bruce Golding’s, stunning presentation at the recent meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS on the fiddling of Guyana’s election results in favour of the APNU+AFC incumbent. Mr Golding who headed the OAS team of observers at the election was then supported by an equally damning though more nuanced report from Barbados Ambassador, Mr Noel Lynch, who spoke on behalf of CARICOM.
Jacqueline Charles in a May 15, 2020 report in the Miami Herald notes “Golding told the OAS permanent council he was troubled by his observations in the region 4 recount (currently underway) where the vote tabulations matched the official poll statements (SOPs), but not what was signed by the electoral authority as the final result”. In his presentation he compared the results of the recount of a number of ballot boxes for Region 4 with those of the SOPs for these boxes and noted no, or insignificant difference. Yet the figures from both the recount and the SOPs differ significantly from those in the Region 4 Officer’s spreadsheet and declaration in favour of the APNU+AFC incumbent. In the Miami Herald’s article, Mr Golding is quoted as saying “I have never seen a more transparent effort to alter the results of an election”.
From his perspective, as reported in the Stabroek News of May 14, 2020, Ambassador Lynch stated “Had these Observer Missions not persevered in Guyana, a result might have been declared that would not have commanded the acceptance of the Guyanese people, or the respect and approval of the international community”. Put simply in non diplomatic language, Mr Lynch is saying that had it not been for the perseverance of the observers, Mr Granger would have been sworn in as President based on a fraudulent declaration.
In responding to the former Jamaican Prime Minister who headed the OAS observers team and the Barbadian Ambassador who spoke on behalf of CARICOM, Dr Riyad Insanally did the best he could under the circumstance. As a career civil servant, a non political office holder, he was placed in an untenable position. One can anticipate his discomfort which was likely made worse knowing that from 2006 to 2008 he served as an adviser to two Secretaries General of the OAS. So, as a good, professional civil servant carrying out his duty, he simply stated what Mr Granger, the de facto President, has been saying, i.e. Guyana is a democracy and APNU+ AFC will abide by the decision of GECOM and the courts.
Some may ask why Dr Insanally, instead of the Foreign Minister, the lady who had threatened to revoke the passes of the international observers during the Mingo fiasco, was the one defending the Government’s position. Perhaps protocol did not allow that or may be it is because bullies can only yell in their own backyard.
Riyad Insanally is a brilliant son of Guyana and a decent and personable human being. He is an alumnus of the country’s most prestigious secondary school, Queen’s College, and a graduate of two of the most renowned universities in the world, earning M.A. and MPhil degrees from Cambridge University in the UK and a PhD from Harvard University in the USA. He has extensive experience in the diplomatic service of Guyana, served as advisor to two Secretaries General of the OAS, and was a lecturer at the University of Guyana in the early 1980s. Guyana is fortunate to have this outstanding individual in service of the country.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Hergash