ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASINATION OF WALTER RODNEY, A POLITICAL SOLUTION AND FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS STILL ELUDE US

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 6th June 2020, 9:00 pm

The recount winds down amidst the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of Walter Rodney, one of Guyana’s most prominent and courageous fighters for democracy and free and fair elections. The party, of which he was a leader, the WPA, now in alliance with APNU, together with the PPP, proposed separate policies in the late 1970s for shared governance. The WPA’s proposal was called “Government of National Unity and Reconstruction,” the PPP’s, a “National Patriotic Front Government.” There were formal discussions between the two parties, chaired by the neutral Ashton Chase, at the CCWU’s headquarters, seeking mutual support for each other’s proposals. There was no immediate agreement but the WPA’s subsequent adjustment to include the PNC in its Government of National Unity and Reconstruction, created an alignment of the two positions on two important issues for a political solution, namely: 1. Free and fair elections; and 2. Inclusion of the PNC in a unity government.

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THE CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 30th May 2020, 9:00 pm

Cynicism in relation to elections in Guyana did not begin with the debate as to whether the majority of 65 is 33 or 34 in relation to the no confidence motion passed against the APNU+AFC Government by the National Assembly on December 21, 2018. It began since mid-2017 when President Granger rejected three lists of names submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo for President Granger to choose one as Chair of GECOM, in accordance with the Constitution. The President’s unilateral appointment of 84-year old retired Justice James Patterson as Chair, created the impression among many that efforts would be made to manipulate the electoral process.

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‘HE WHO ASSERTS MUST PROVE’

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 23rd May 2020, 9:00 pm

While the political atmosphere is still heavily laden with gloom, it was somewhat lifted by President Granger statement that the Government will accept ‘any declaration’ made by GECOM pursuant to the recount. This was followed by a statement by the Chair of GECOM that ‘he who asserts must prove.’ President Granger’s statement contrast sharply with those by Government/APNU+AFC officials doubting GECOM legal capacity to issue a declaration on the recount. A suggestion by a member that GECOM that must investigate the allegations that dead and migrated persons have voted in the elections cannot be taken seriously. But the statements have only partially mitigated the concerns.

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SINGING FROM THE SAME HYMN BOOK – TO WHAT END?

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 16th May 2020, 9:00 pm

As the week ended, a clear strategy by APNU+AFC appears to be emerging. Trash the elections! From Joe Harmon’s extensive statement early in the week, to interviews by Lennox Craig and David Patterson at midweek, then a press conference by Amna Ally, Cathy Hughes and Aubrey Norton, all singing from the same hymn book – the elections were rigged by the PPP. The question is: To what end?

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GECOM HIJACKED THE RECOUNT AND CONVERTED IT INTO AN AUDIT

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 9th May 2020, 9:00 pm

The President and Leader of the Opposition agreed on a recount. In their Aide Memoire, the word “recount” appears four times while the word “audit” does not appear. “Recount” was never defined, but the Aide Memoire stated that it would take place in accordance with “the applicable law,” as well as the Constitution and court decisions. It could only have meant the Representation of the Peoples Act (the Act) which is the only existing, applicable, law for a recount. There is nothing to suggest that when the leaders signed the Aide Memoire that they meant anything other than the recount process provided for by the Act.

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