Granger cabal should no longer hold the nation hostage

Dear Editor,

It was interesting to learn that some senior members of the APNU coalition have finally acknowledged that the Recount Numbers are legitimate in keeping with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and the Chief Justice of Guyana ruling that GECOM must make the declaration using the recount votes. Despite the clear and comprehensive rulings by the CCJ and the Chief Justice that any aggrieved party(s) must file an election petition after a new president is sworn in, APNU continues to abuse the legal system. Since the election on March 2, 2020, the APNU coalition has realized that the PPP has won the election but instead of accepting the results, they have flooded the Courts with several cases in order to buttress their position. And so far they have lost every case.

The reaction from many prominent Guyanese is that the senior members of the coalition are not only confused and dictatorial, but they are downright dishonest. Many including David Granger, Joe Harmon and Moses Nagamootoo to name a few, have refused to accept the results of the recount despite the fact that both President Granger and Bharrat Jagdeo invited a team from CARICOM to scrutinize the recount. In fact, Mr. Granger has publicly stated that he was very confident in CARICOM’s ability and integrity and as the most legitimate interlocutor in the Guyana situation. However, Mr. Granger has refused to accept the pronouncement by CARICOM that the recount was credible. Plain and simple, APNU has lost the election and instead of accepting defeat, they have been hiding behind the courts, and spreading fibs to their supporters that they have won and the PPP has rigged the elections. We want to tell Granger and his team that when a government which has control of the electoral machinery allows the opposition to rig an election and win it, then that government is not fit to govern the country.

Their allegations are just that “allegations. They have not been proven and we are confident that no court will accept APNU’s fairy tales. The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, now the Chairman of GECOM has rightly said the members of APNU should “take their licks like a man.” The Chief Justice has issued a stern warning to APNU lawyers not to waste the court’s time and resources by filing cases under different names that have already been adjudicated by the CCJ. This according to the Chief Justice is an abuse of power and the legal system. Shame on the Granger cabal.

The truth is APNU has run out of legal options available to them and GECOM will not and cannot save them. So with no options remaining, they have become very vicious and bombastic. They have attacked every institution, every organization including GECOM, every country including Canada and the United States and every individual including the former Prime Ministers of Barbados and Jamaica, the current Prime Ministers of Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines all of whom have told the Granger government that the recount votes are valid and must be used to make a declaration of the winner, be it APNU or the PPP. As the former Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin has said, the world is against the coalition and it cannot win. It is time to give-up; elections have consequences because members of the cabinet have abandoned the people who elected them to office in 2015. Further, it is inept for those arrogant members of the coalition to attack CARICOM and other members of the international community who have called on them to exit their offices. We are reminding them that Guyana is a signatory to CARICOM, the OAS, the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations Civic Charter which states that every member state has a right to promote democracy and fair and free elections. Failing this, other member states in those organization can intervene to make sure that democracy prevails and the will of the people is respected in elections.

Whatever Granger, Harmon and Nagamootoo do or say at this stage, no longer matters. We are of the firm opinion that they will have to leave office and they know it, but it seems they are content on holding hundreds of thousands of people hostage because of their greed and lust for power. As the former Prime Minister of Jamaica has said, the Granger cabal has damaged the image and reputation of Guyana so badly that it will take more than a generation (one generation is considered to be 20 years) to restore. The Granger cabal should no longer hold the nation hostage; it will not bode well for them because of the tough personal sanctions that will be imposed on them by Canada, Britain and the European Union.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Asquith Rose and Sasenarine Singh