The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce last week called for a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to be conducted into the 2020 general and regional elections.
Chamber President Mohammed Raffik told a news conference that the last five months have been an extremely difficult time for Guyana and stressed that it is important that the aftermath of the election does not repeat itself ever again in Guyana. “We are going to be urging the government that as soon as they have settled down we need to have a Commission of Inquiry into exactly what took place at GECOM [Guyana Elections Commission], from the first, beginning with the declaration of [Region Four, Returning Officer, Clairmont] Mingo,” he said last Wednesday. “We would like to have a complete CoI into what took place, who were the authors and exactly how this whole thing went down,” he added.
Raffik, who said the Chamber was proud to have been a part of observing the elections and recount process, stressed that the past five months somewhat paralysed Guyana and setback social cohesion. “It took race relations in Guyana back down many years. We now have to try to rebuild that. We don’t need that,” he argued.
During his inauguration address last Saturday, new president Irfaan Ali announced that a planned review of the recently-concluded elections process and to hold anyone who tried to undermine it to account.
“A review of events related to the electoral process over the last five months will begin shortly in order to determine, forensically, exactly what transpired, and to hold accountable any persons who sought to pervert and corrupt the system,” Ali told those gathered at his inauguration at the National Cultural Centre.
Meanwhile, Raffik said the Chamber was prepared to work with the new government and uplift the people of Berbice and Guyana as a whole. “We will continue to represent the people of Berbice, regardless of where they live, regardless of their race. Berbice and Guyana belongs to all of us and whichever government is in power we will ensure that we, the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, represent all the people,” he assured, while adding that the body would also continue to monitor the performance of government and from time to time make its position known on various issues.
Additionally, Raffik suggested that the new government come up with an interim budget to take Guyana through the rest of 2020 and to quickly stabilise the economy. “And have better plans for next year with an early budget so that things can move off,” he added.
Raffik stressed that most business persons and investors had put everything on hold due to the election situation and, therefore, they are hopeful that things will now speed up and improve throughout the country.
Additionally, Raffik stated that the new opposition has put its party under great pressure and has lost a lot of support from the international community and persons within Guyana. “They have an extremely difficult road ahead to build and bring their party back to some kind of credibility and some level of respectability,” he said.
He sees that task as being “an extremely difficult one” but added that “in politics you never give up and my best advice to them is to get into Parliament, do their homework, do their research, look at every decision that is made by the government and try to ensure they represent their constituency and to take the government to task for whatever they perceive is done wrong.”
Joinder list
Touching on the joinder list of the new parties that have secured a seat in Parliament, Raffik said that the Chamber is looking forward to seeing them make meaningful contributions in the legislature and in the development of Guyana.
He also highlighted the work of the new parties during the last five months in order to ensure that the winning party was sworn into government.
Raffik also pointed out that COVID-19 has highlighted to the general public living conditions of citizens of Guyana. “Many of the people that will be forming this government would have been in the field so we are hoping that those images would motivate them to want to do good for the people of Berbice and the entire Guyana as a whole,” he said.
He stated that the Chamber was hopeful that the government will quickly come up with strategies to help the most vulnerable, especially those who would have lost their job due to the COVID-19.
Raffik further pointed out that some attention needs to be paid to persons who have mortgages and other loans. “I was told that some of these banking institutions only give these people three months and that is ridiculous. Three months is not enough to give persons,” he said.
He added that at the recent meeting with President Ali, the president raised the issue and noted that it was something he would look at.
The Chamber has been working around the clock throughout Region Six by assisting with hampers, repairing houses, distributing masks, sanitizing areas and also making continuous donations to orphanages and other vulnerable places.
