Governments that “steal elections” to remain in power only punish their citizens, says former Minister of Education under the Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration, Priya Manickchand.
She made the remarks on Wednesday evening during a virtual programme titled “Government in Transition”.
“Governments who thief power to stay in office, don’t serve their people, there is no need to win hearts and votes through your service, because you are going to steal the next elections…And if there is no need to win hearts and votes through your service, then there is no need to serve,” Manickchand said.
She was at the time commenting on the current political situation in Guyana.
Manickhand, a PPP/C Candidate for the March 2 polls, acknowledged that there is a massive resistance to the attempts to alter the results of the elections by both local and international stakeholders because they are well aware of the hardships citizens would face if the incumbent APNU/AFC Coalition is allowed to remain in power through fraudulent means.
“What you saw in the last five years; people going hungry and not being fed, people losing jobs and not being subsidised, electricity bills going up, water bills going up, farmers being left on their own, etc that is what you will see again,” she warned.
The former minister stressed that the world is standing up and resisting this, “because people who thief power and go into office punish their citizens.”
Manickchand added that such governments take away the fundamental rights of citizens.
She cited the recent peaceful protest by citizens against the draconian measures put in place to prevent the Washington-based Carter Center from returning to Guyana to observe the national recount.
She reasoned that citizens were taking part in a peaceful action to register their concerns against the action of the government, yet they were charged and placed before the courts though they were abiding by the COVID-19 measures.
Manickchand told viewers that the APNU/AFC Government thought that it could have gotten away easily with “stealing the elections” and remain in power. “They did not expect the world to resist this kind of theft.”
The results emanating from the national recount of the votes cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections show the PPP/C in a landslide lead with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes.
But there were several attempts by the APNU/AFC Coalition, reportedly working in collusion with elements within the electoral machinery, to alter the results in order to hand themselves a victory.
Pressure is mounting from all quarters for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to make its declaration based on the results of the national recount which was certified by CARICOM, and recognised as credible by both local and international stakeholders.
