Owen Arthur, the head of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to the March 2nd elections, yesterday repudiated the attacks which have been levelled against Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves by APNU+AFC election agent Joseph Harmon over a statement about the recount of votes.
Speaking in two separate interviews with Guyanese media, Arthur, a former long-serving Prime Minister of Barbados, declared that Gonsalves’ statement that CARICOM will not stand by and watch an election being stolen is perfectly in order and is exactly what is expected.
“Caribbean countries, including Guyana, have signed a Charter for Civil Society which enjoins upon them the responsibility to have free and fair elections. It would, therefore, be entirely contrary to the provisions of the Charter for Civil Society for CARICOM countries to stand by if an election is being stolen…Mr Gonsalves was only speaking within the context of the spirit and the letter of the Charter of Civil Society when he made the statement that he made,” Arthur told the Newsroom in a telephone interview.
He later, during an interview with Kaieteur Radio, stressed that CARICOM in general would not like to be the centre of political controversy of this kind.
“Leaders of CARICOM as a class would rather free and fair elections [and] if the government does not want to accept the results and still wants to stay in office then CARICOM will have to decide whether to suspend Guyana,” the former PM stated.
He explained that the world has not only watched but has been present in Guyana for the 2020 elections and to fail to accept its results would be to set Guyana up as a rogue state.
“Guyana cannot benefit from having itself portrayed as a pariah state, as a rogue state. There will be consequences…Guyana cannot withstand the ire of the international community,” he lamented while urging leaders to ensure that Guyana remain in the eyes of the global community a country which is respectful of the law.
Arthur, who has contested elections five times and lost twice, explained that while there is no graceful way to lose in public it is about accepting the will of people and recognizing that it is not a personal attack on you, the politician.
He took particular issue with Harmon’s attack on Gonsalves, while stressing that the party agent is eroding regional goodwill which his party and leader would need in the future.
“Joe Harmon’s and his party’s attacks on people is putting his party and his leader in a position where I believe it would be very difficult for them to be able to engage in fellowship of goodwill with other people in the Caribbean. The vitriolic attack on other leaders is really in a way putting Guyana in a condition where it appears to have itself being led by people who are out of order,” he told the Newsroom.
Harmon had attacked Gonsalves for stating on Wednesday in a radio interview that it was his expectation that GECOM would accept the results of the 33-day recount.
During an appearance on NBC Radio St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ ‘Your Morning Cup,’ which was also broadcast live on Facebook, the incoming Chair of CARICOM said that the recount was properly done.
“We expect the CARICOM observer mission to deliver its report and we expect that what is the recount would be honoured and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will honour that recount and declare the winner in accordance with this recount,” he said, adding that CARICOM will not stand by idly and watch the results be set aside.
Gonsalves, who said CARICOM would not “tolerate anybody stealing an election,” added that anybody who wants to challenge anything afterwards can go to court.
“But you have to declare the winner in accordance with the recount,” he stressed.
According to Arthur, Harmon cannot be allowed to attack leaders especially since he is not a leader himself.
“In this matter, Joe Harmon is a mere utensil and he is out of order to be speaking to Caribbean leaders in the way in which he is,” he stressed
He added that if Harmon is speaking with the support of President David Granger who might in a few weeks have to sit in Council with other leaders then “it would be good for the President of Guyana to tell Harmon that that is not his responsibility.”
“He is not a Caribbean leader and your leader needs to tell him he is out of order. Your leader should not be allowing Joe Harmon to be attacking other leaders in the Caribbean in this vitriolic way,” he stressed.
President Granger last night stood by Harmon’s comments, saying that he was “quite correct.”
Meanwhile, Arthur added that for Harmon and APNU+AFC to call on the Barbadian Prime Minister and current Chair of CARICOM Mia Mottley to publicly lambaste another leader is ridiculous. Such an action he contended would reduce the region to the theatre of the absurd.
“These attacks on people merely because they express a position suggests that there are those in Guyana who feel you have to go and cower and hide…I don’t think Ralph Gonsalves should feel in any way, first of all, intimidated or having to cower, because that seems to be the intention. The people of the Caribbean are not going to be intimidated by Joe Harmon or his ilk,” Arthur stressed.
While here observing the March 2nd elections, Arthur famously clashed with Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Karen Cummings when she had threatened to withdraw the accreditation of international observers.
Further, in a statement on April 16 on behalf of the Commonwealth observer mission, Arthur lamented the “unconscionable” delay in finalizing the result of the elections.
“This delay in credibly concluding the electoral process is now even more alarming as the entire world seeks to contend with the disruptive and devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on economic, social and political life,” Arthur’s statement had said.
He added that the Representation of the People Act is “unambiguous and specific on the technical modalities by which a general final count is bound and we strongly urge the leadership of GECOM not to depart from these legal stipulations.”
