Dear Editor,
Elections constitutionally due in 1978 were postponed indefinitely by the Forbes Burnham PNC government. Rather than elections when due, a referendum was held which was fraudulent, and widely-reported to be so. A monitoring committee of concerned citizens estimated the voter turnout to be 15% at most; the government claimed a 66% turnout and gave itself a yes-majority to make fundamental changes to the constitution. The government then used either this majority, or a 70% majority from the previous rigged elections in 1973, (it is unclear which) to unilaterally postpone the 1978 elections. I was present in Guyana at the time.
This postponement was historic. It encompassed broad-based street protests and rallies, which were also against the wider repeated fraudulent elections and referendum, and the impending unilateral new constitution. There were various violations of human rights: Father Darke was ambushed and killed in a street protest, in mistake for Father Morrison, an unshakable investigative journalist; three members of the WPA were killed in this struggle, including Walter Rodney. Indeed after the latter’s assassination in June 1980, elections were eventually held and the first executive president inaugurated in December following, marking the imposition of a constitution based on a fraudulent referendum.
Mr Vincent Alexander in a recent ‘Context’ TV interview has reminded us of another occasion when, this time, a Desmond Hoyte-led PNC government postponed constitutionally due elections, from in 1990 to December 1992. Notably, on this occasion the opposition was somewhat in agreement with the delay, as previously the election commission was effectively under the Ministry of Home Affairs, (that is, under the Executive) the Carter Center became involved to change that, and the electoral list needed to be cleaned up. Though Mr Alexander was vocal about opposition agreement to postponement, he was silent on why. In the previous elections in 1985 the government had given itself a massive 75% of the vote, and both the PPP and the WPA felt forced to withdraw on election day itself. The 1990 postponement did not require consultation with the opposition, in light of the massive government supposed majority.
Writing to support the position that it is Gecom which advises on readiness for elections, Sherod Duncan points out that the Bharrat Jagdeo-led PPP/C Govt has acted on such advice to postpone elections (SN 3 March 2019); others have also raised this point. I was not in Guyana in the period he refers to, but accepting what Mr Duncan writes, the postponement was on two occasions: in 2001 when the delay was two months; and in 2006 when the delay was one. On both occasions the delay was, partly at least, on advice from Gecom. Election delays must not be condoned; it is an obvious red flag. However the two last-described were advised by an election commission, chaired by a bipartisan-selected chairperson, and were for minor periods.
In my view a most crucial aspect of the No Confidence Motion and the present ‘elections within 90 days’ is that the Executive is seeking to avoid accountability to the Legislative branch. The Executive is controlled politically by the PNCR which has a track-record of manoeuvre outlined at length above, and in fact has manoeuvred to unilaterally appoint the present chairperson to the election commission, so that the Executive preferences are facilitated. Other notable features are that the PNCR has managed to bring into its bloc former elements of the PPP/C, (Prime Minister; Minister of Public Security) as well as the entire WPA: moves which are remarkable indeed. However a major difference now, from before, is the requirement for genuine prior consultation by the Executive with the parliamentary opposition, being the PPP/C, as part of postponing the ’elections within 90 days’. Objective consultation has generally not occurred across the political divide in Guyana, and if it happens it will be a welcome watershed. However, equally if there is no consultation, it would be a new watershed of a precedent of one party wielding uncheck-ed power over others.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Rodney
