Dear Editor,
It is a foregone conclusion that The PNC is not interested in a free and fair election system, instead, they are in a mad rush to create a situation of confusion for GECOM and the electorate before the 2025 Election. Make no mistake, the PNC are in no way concerned about the next election being free and fair, their modus operandi suggests to everyone that they are on a clear course to complicate the present voting system to make it an illegal exercise, then, turn again and run to one of these courts that are sympathetic to that party’s cause for a redress just like they did in the 1997 Election. And my answer to that is a definite no, we will not let it happen again.
The PNC have never accepted a system that brings out the true results of any election held here in Guyana. A general election where there is a loss for The PNC will be considered fraudulent and one that is riddled with errors. So, instead of accepting the truth of what a free and fair system would generate, they are now trying to bungle the present paper balloting system with a new and untried method of voting. First, it was forcing a path for electronic voting, then, now, putting a biometric method to go with it, that is, jumping on several platforms in a mad and confusing way. Whichever the method, it cannot be instituted at this late hour, for the simple reason that it was never done here and we are in the dark as to its true operations.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the new systems they are advocating, once it is the same rules for all the participants involved, however, huge problems arise when the new system does not produce the results the PNC wanted. We have witnessed this duplicity by that party time and time again. Like I sarcastically responded to a PNC Friend, that paper balloting was embraced by their party for decades when it brought them the results, they prescribed, however, when they became the opposition, everything changed and the system posed a problem for them.
It is tantamount to the proverb “A bad workman quarrels with his tools,” as a plethora of problems was unearthed just to prove that their loss was due to flaws in the system. Once they were booted out of power, from henceforth everything was considered bad about the system of voting. The PNC began nitpicking, that is, from the use of paper balloting to a “clean voters list,” it ran the gamut of our entire electoral machinery, everything became an irritation for that party, nothing pleases them.
The point is, a system that is owned and controlled by the PNC, where they can wheel and deal as they please, that is, falsify figures, bar foreign observers from looking into the workings of the electoral system, to the point where they can openly make fraudulent declarations, then, the system is categorized as just, holy and good. Well, I am happy to disappoint them, that culture of lawlessness will not be countenanced again.
What The PNC and its allies are asking cannot be accommodated now or any time after, for the simple reason that it will mean an extension to The Irfaan Ali Presidency, something The PNC will never accept. I am saying, to institute a system like the one they are demanding would require an awfully lengthy time to educate as well as to implement, way beyond the five-year term limit stipulated in the constitution. So, in actuality The PNC are shooting themselves in the foot with their new found “Theory of Elections.”
The mere thought of a general election brings out an extreme form of nervousness in The Opposition’s Camp, this is their main concern and nothing else. That party needs to get over the idea of ever being able to rig or complicate our electoral system, theirs is a lost cause. Finally, that party is put on notice, that the electorate in Guyana will be unforgiving when it comes to the PNC and its acolytes.
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
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