Issue #1 Volume #41
Combat Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)
Editorial:
The fragility of our democracy
The events in the aftermath of the March 02, 2020 National and Regional Elections have gripped national attention and have shocked many right-thinking persons greatly. Prior to Election Day, there were quite a few who expressed the fear that attempts would be pursued to undermine the will of the people. Indeed, those fears raised apprehensions and must have caused more than a fair share of persons to pay even closer attention to the process. It could be argued that the level of scrutiny that was brought to bear to the process made any attempts to defile it even more difficult. Certainly, with what can be characterized as generally a smooth voting day, there was a feeling that the worst was left behind, and all we had to do was to wait for the results. Even the process of tabulation appeared, at the outset, to be running without much hitch, and soon enough, results began to trickle in. Not too long after, we began to get official declarations for the various administrative regions, with the exception of the most populous – Region #4. With the declarations completed for nine (9) of the ten (10) region, it appeared that the main Opposition – the PPP/C – would form the Government. This, of course, would be confirmed after the declaration from Region #4. It was at this point that things went awry. Several excuses were advanced seemingly with intent to delay the Region #4 declaration. Shenanigans such as deviating from the lawful procedure and a bomb threat were employed ostensibly to facilitate attempts to alter the results in apparent favour to the ruling Coalition. Those short-sighted and juvenile attempts, however, did not succeed, and this is where the process took what can be described as a nasty turn. With the verification/tabulation process incomplete, and to a loud chorus of dismay, a declaration was made, which when aggregated with the declarations from the other nine (9) regions, gave the incumbent Coalition a slight edge, and thus the electoral victory. However, before the process could move forward, the High Court approved an injunction which sought to overturn or restrain any declaration made. It was recognized that the Statements of Polls (SOPs), which are a representation of votes for each ballot box, had to be safeguarded. At this time, if there was any doubt, it became clearer that a plan was afoot to practically steal the election. Representatives from the opposition political parties who were sitting in the room with the SOPs were forcibly removed by members of the security forces, and the SOPs were locked away from the full view of the international and local observers, as well as the political parties. Continued on page two (2) COMBAT Jan-Mar, 2020
January-March, 2020
The democratic process must prevail – those forces who seek to subvert our will must be condemned
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), the major umbrella trade union organization in our nation, as a concerned national stakeholder, joins with the many individuals and organisations who have spoken out, as it is convinced that we are seeing unfolding actions by certain forces intent on nefariously snatching the will of the Guyanese people and trampling on their inalienable right to freely elect their leaders. We wish to remind that these important rights of Guyanese were not freely given, but were won through successive and successful struggles of our peoples. Those rights, like all our rights, are very much cherished, and we cannot remain silent when we see unvarnished attempts to simply take away or disregard any right from our peoples. The actions by these pseudo-leaders, some who hold themselves out as being pious and upstanding, demonstrates, in our view, that they have really no respect or even the scantest concern about the Guyanese people. Had they really cared about our peoples, they would have brought this charade to an end and allow the lawful, democratic process to unfold, as has been the position of nearly all and sundry. Rather, it appears to us, that they have their own nefarious ends in mind. At this time, they have essentially pushed our beautiful country to the precipice, and are gravely jeopardizing the advancements our country and peoples have made to rebuild and develop our dear land. We are warned that we risk being ostracized from the
rest of the world, and yet it seems, that without batting an eyelid, there are those who remain committed to their seeming plan of retaining political power no matter the cost. For the FITUG, those who seek to undermine our democracy cannot really have any place in our law-abiding and peace-loving society, and certainly must be condemned by current and future generations of Guyanese. The Federation remains convinced, at this time, that the active and passive players, their intellectual authors, and those who give tacit and implicit support will not succeed. We are saddened that those who claim to be champions of democracy and the rule of law have apparently lost their voices, or, from all appearances, are giving whole-hearted support to those diabolical forces that have only themselves at heart. This is indeed a disturbing turn of events, and reveals their character. We are of the firm view that, like in the past, the Guyanese people will win out and succeed in having their rights upheld and safeguarded. While it could be said that we are someway down the road, we believe that it is still not too late to retrieve our country and avoid the proverbial ton of bricks that could tumble down upon us. We urge that good sense, decency and honesty prevail, and those who are pushing us to a clearly undesirable state be reigned in without further delay. We of the FITUG join with all the democratic forces of our nation in urging an end to the delays and tomfoolery, and allow the will of our people to prevail and our rights to be respected. PAGE ONE