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Comments made by the United Kingdom (UK) High Commissioner, Jane Miller, that the existing bloated voters list can be used cannot be taken lightly. The High Commissioner represents one of the most powerful nations in the world. She speaks for the UK and her words will resonate around the world, generating comments within the region and our domestic borders.
Such statements are not only violation of diplomatic expectations but an act that can empower the present People’s Progressive Party (PPP) regime to continue along its path of using a compromised electoral list that had been ridiculed by all, including the party, when they were in opposition. The party’s leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, is on public record calling for new house-to-house registration.
The high commissioner must be reminded forthwith that the list in its present form cannot represent the true will of the people. This is a list that has created a lot of distrust and people losing faith and confidence in Guyana’s electoral democracy.
What the high commissioner is asking Guyanese to accept would not have been accepted in UK or any western society and would usually be condemned by them in Third World countries as a threat to free, fair and transparent process.
The statements have created much talk among various Guyanese, in various quarters in society, the high commissioner does not believe or is interested in deepening the democratic process in Guyana and strengthening our electoral system to meet the needs of Guyana but to serve foreign interests.
The fact that the high commissioner could dare to think she could express such thoughts publicly shows a sense of misplaced empowerment and displaced diplomatic authority to so do. Who or what has emboldened this high commissioner? Who or whatever it is, Guyana is definitely in dangerous times when it comes to its national interest.
It is not that Guyanese don’t welcome western support, but their support must be in the national interest. When such support threatens our national interest, we must unify. We must put selfish interest aside for the collective good and express our concerns and disappointment.
Our ancestors, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Cheddie Jagan, Forbes Burnham and Peter D’Aguiar fought for the right to self-determination and this we must guard zealously, especially when the interest of our national wealth is at stake. If for nothing more all Guyanese should see themselves as brothers and sisters fighting against this state of imperialist intrusion.
Unmistakably the high commissioner sought to create a pathway for the PPP not to ensure a credible electoral process of which the list is a very important component. Whereas she has led the way in making the statement there will be no surprise if others at her level share the same view. It is probably a signal to come.
And on the issue of the law, if the law does not protect the integrity of the list such must be fixed by amendments. This opportunity is taken to remind persons whereby slavery was legal as per law it was wrong and a violation of human rights and dignity, which took the collective will of the people, on all sides of the divide, to change the law and bring an end to a wrong.
We should not be going back to elections with a list this compromised that has led to so much dissatisfaction and conflict. The internal conflict will not serve well the management of our natural resources in the interest of all Guyanese.
We should seek therefore to ensure the List is sanitised as a priority. In 1990 President Desmond Hoyte and Opposition Leader Cheddie Jagan took the necessary steps to promote public confidence in the electoral system and reduce the conflicts. Guyana must exercise no less political wisdom in 2022.
