The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) has described the recent report submitted by Chief Election Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield as a continuation of the “naked attempts to thwart the will of the people.”
In a release yesterday, FITUG took umbrage at the CEO’s report and states that he had taken it upon himself, without explanation, to do away with the votes of 115,000 Guyanese. “The record-speed in which Mr Lowenfield submitted his report, in our view, demonstrates his active participation in seeking to undermine our democracy. His actions have only further cemented the strongly held view regarding the partiality of the Secretariat of the Elections Commission.”
The Federation voiced its concern at the ongoing “shenanigans”, seemingly, it says, at the behest of the incumbent Administration in its attempts to maintain its grip on power. While acknowledging that Lowenfield’s report cannot be considered pending hearings at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), it contends that his report deserves outright rejection. “His report, we believe, belongs at the Haags Bosch dumpsite along with his previous attempt to disenfranchise some 275,000 voters as well as the two declarations made by Mr Clairmont Mingo.”
As far as FITUG is concerned, the results of the valid vote count arising out of the national recount is already known and it expressed the view that “these sordid attempts by compromised individuals cannot and will not change that reality.” In view of these unsavoury occurrences, the Federation is concerned that the Coalition’s intention may be to revisit undemocratic rule. This prospect, the union body says, is most saddening and the fact that these attempts are supported by individuals who were once part of the “bulwark” of the struggles for democracy is most disturbing. “Indeed as the days go by, the masks are falling off and the truth is being revealed.”
However, FITUG sees this time as cause for renewed struggle and not despair. It is a time, it says, “to push back against the now-a-day tyrants who only have their self-interest at heart.” The Federation therefore exhorts GECOM and all Guyanese to ignore what it feels is the latest attempt to thwart the will of the people. “The truth is known and it will eventually set us free. There is only one credible and acceptable result and in this 21st Century the intrigues of those who wish to undermine our democracy will be roundly defeated and the master-minds, like those before, will live on now and in history in total ignominy,” the release added.
