The US must act now to save our embryonic democracy
The US Secretary of State Michael Richard Pompeo needs to immediately implement the consequential sanctions against the individuals who have openly flouted and breached the laws of Guyana to actively undermine the democratic process in order to prevent the winner of Guyana’s General and Regional elections, which were held on March 2, 2020, from leading the Government of Guyana.
What could Mike Pompeo be waiting on before implementing individual sanctions against the election fraudsters and their enablers? Containers with ballots to vanish? The illegal swearing in of David Granger as President? Chaos and violence across Guyana? Court rulings and orders that will be appealed, ignored or borders on unenforceability due to ambiguous and loose language? An election recount of what has already been counted; with the initial count and tally showing a clear winner? The passing of some unknown timeline, and prior to that insufferable timeline being reached, allow an illegal and ignoble regime to govern and trample on the rights of Guyanese, the laws of Guyana and promote an environment of division and deception? Use of the court system for sham charges and political persecution? Missing ballots and/or missing Statements of Polls?
The United States must match sanction action to their talk. International organisations such as the Organization of American States, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the
European Union, CARICOM, the Carter Center and several Guyanese organisations and individuals have spoken out against the fraudulent declarations by the Guyana Elections Commission as it relates to the Region Four Statements of Poll adding and tabulation process. Region Four accounts for approximately 45 per cent of votes cast in Guyana’s March 2, 2020 elections.
The current delay and denial tactics of APNU+AFC leaders and their myrmidons is nothing but continuing the violations of Guyana’s laws and Constitution, which commenced after the successful December 18, 2018 noconfidence vote that by law required general and regional elections to be held by March 21, 2019.
Finally, we have had the legally overdue elections on March 2, 2020, and the APNU+AFC administration is hellbent on putting up barriers to a democratic transition by using their agents in GECOM to fabricate and falsify Statements of Poll or using the legal system to subvert the laws governing the election process.
Why wait for the situation to become even worse, resulting in the loss of life and limb and destruction of property! The United States has the power and can take action now to put an end to this unfolding tragedy.
Lest there be any doubt, I voted for Granger in 2015 and Trump in 2016. The sequence of events since my votes, have not for a moment caused me to lose faith in the need for the periodic renewal of democracy to honour the will of the people, which is best demonstrated by adherence to the prevailing democratic system of laws and statutes.
The United States must act now to save our embryonic democracy, to ensure we have a legal government, prevent social disorder and violent chaos in Guyana!
Yours faithfully, Nigel Hinds