Dear Editor,
Whilst I agree wholeheartedly with the thrust and spirit of Lincoln Lewis’ letter of 2 October 2020, that the President and Opposition Leader must start moving our nation forward in the direction of ‘inclusionary democracy’, I vehemently disagree with his exhortation that President Ali seriously rethink the stated position that he will not engage with the Leader of the Opposition unless the latter recognizes the PPP/Civic as “legitimately elected”. If truth be known, I would prefer that Mr Harmon simply desist in the future from expressing his opinion that the Government is not legitimate. That would amount to a practical compromise as it will not require any backtracking on Mr Harmon’s part whilst implicitly accepting that the Mr Ali was duly sworn in as President. It will then be a matter for the courts to decide on the outcome of the elections petitions filed.
The reality is that former President, David Granger, conceded defeat after the last elections. Mr Ali did not succeed to the Presidency following a military coup and he was not an incumbent who did not concede defeat, a possible position that Mr Granger could have taken and which many Guyanese would have either tolerated or even welcomed. It may be that the Opposition perspective is driven by what the PPP/Civic did after the No-Confidence Vote (NCV); the then Opposition wrongly insisted on describing the post-December 2018 caretaker Government as “illegal” – so the current Opposition likewise prefers to engage in what amounts to a childish tit-for-tat that the current Government of Guyana is similarly not legitimate at this time.
That position, like the PPP/Civic position post-NCV, defies all logic and is unhelpful for any practical purpose. Why then did David Granger concede? Are the members of the Parliamentary Opposition in Parliament only there to collect the monthly salary on offer? Can Mr Harmon and Coalition partners not instead pull out all stops to inspire Guyanese to engage in a general strike with mass protests aimed at destabilizing an “illegitimate” Government in power? Truthful answers to those 3 questions will lead inexorably to the conclusion that President Ali was legitimately sworn in. We all ought to let the courts ultimately decide whether the Government’s legitimacy enjoyed today should continue unbroken through to the next elections in 2025.
Yours faithfully,
Ronald Bostwick