Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter written by Mr Vincent Alexander captioned `No basis for Jagdeo to conclude GECOM Chairman has been biased”, which was published on June 14, 2018. This piece clearly illustrates how well adjusted Mr Alexander has become to defending the systemic injustices being imposed by the ruling “lumpen bourgeoisie” against the people.
This piece from Mr Alexander exposes the process by which four (4) of the seven (7) GECOM Commissioners are prepared to put the “boots on the neck” of the majority of our people in their quest to perpetuate administrative skullduggery and favouritism in public office. The facts would reveal that, after evaluating the job functions and interviewing the shortlisted applicants, the person with the highest score for Deputy Chief Elections Officer was still denied the role. WHY?
First off, all the taxpayers of Guyana are funding GECOM, and therefore this organisation must, in principle, be seen to be serving the entire nation. The team at all times must reflect Guyana in all of its shades and forms.
If one were to look at the top 13 officeholders in GECOM, just like the sitting list of Permanent Secretaries and Regional Executive Officers, one would safely see that, as a collective, none of these groups of public servants reflects the rainbow of talent that constitutes Guyana. This is an excellent case for the ERC and the Ministry of Social Cohesion to investigate.
In 1990, when discussions were being advanced and the system was constructed to restore democracy in Guyana, President Hoyte and the then Leader of the Opposition, Cheddi Jagan, agreed to the Carter Model as a check and balance system to prevent exactly this situation that is happening today at GECOM.
Their vision was that GECOM was going to be an independent agency created by law to conduct and regulate free and fair elections and elections free from fair.
They provided GECOM and its predecessor with jurisdiction over the entire electoral process, and with systems to foster a collection of ethical people at the top, who at all times aimed to preserve its impartiality by fostering a course that was unbiased and dispassionately balanced.
Unfortunately, today under Mr Patterson, this is not the case. In 2018, GECOM comes across as an organisation that is prejudiced and very biased.
So if Mr. Alexander was not stuck in that aloft gang of “pseudo-milquetoast” elites, he would have realised that he holds a view that does not necessarily reconcile to that of the majority. Irrespective of what they do, if this course is pursued, this nation will, in the end, suffer. That is why the collective fight back must happen now, because unrighteousness must never be allowed to conquer righteousness, and we must never allow the rulers to walk the nation back to the days of colourful elections as practised by Burnham.
I am therefore calling on Guyanese in the diaspora to internationalise this fight by writing to your Senators, House Members, Members of Parliament and other dignitaries.
The struggle must be taken to a different level. The facts are there for all to see. Indeed, democracy is in crisis in Guyana today.
Regards,
Sasenarine Singh