The following is an opinion piece by Rakesh Rampertab
Of late, there is a deafening silence from the PNC/Coalition leader on the release of the CARICOM report, the filing of the Eslyn David matter, and the subsequent Court of Appeal’s Order. One may add the recent actions of GECOM’s CEO. Is there a connection between it all?
It is good that we are before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) again, even if only for the record. Too often, there are notorious post-voting occurrences in Guyana, but hardly any significant documentation of what transpired. Instead, there is a camouflage of history. Of course, an adverse CCJ judgment may not move the de facto administration. The NCM is a lesson well taught to a vulnerable electorate. Moreover, there is a lingering belief that a court order is only as good as a constable who is willing to execute it.
Accordingly, some of what may follow another adverse CCJ ruling may be predictable. There will be more camouflage of history. That is, the PNC leader is likely to impress the public with his respect for the Constitution. He may convey his impression of an adverse CCJ ruling and insist on using a CEO report interpreted to bear “valid and credible” votes, as was predictably compiled this very week.
It is predictable because the word “credible”, which allegedly appears in the CEO’s accompanying letter to the GECOM Chair, has long been refashioned by the PNC leader to camouflage what is really a movement to undermine the electoral process. The silence on the CARICOM report is no longer silence.
It is therefore quite a sleight of hand by the CEO, who on one hand allegedly has “taken note of the guidance” of the court, but on the other has shifted the goalpost from “valid” votes cast to “valid and credible” votes cast, extinguishing the voting rights of some 115,000 voters in the process. It ought to be clear to the vulnerable electorate that each part of this “movement” operates in tandem with its larger whole.
Now that the CEO’s report and letter have surfaced, the public can expect someone else to try to import the phrase “valid and credible” votes into the CCJ lexicon next week.
The movement will roll on, quite simply put, until someone stops it in its horrible track.
