By GHK Lall- Guyanese have long held fast to a line that comforts. We duz liv good aall de time, an is only during elections that some madness duz tek over everybadee. I respectfully disagree with my betters. Simply put, elections give Guyanese an opportunity to slip off their masks. When I see what I see, and hear what I hear, I recognize how much Guyanese have learned to fool themselves, live under a false flag from childhood to adulthood. I urge all to weigh this latest elections’ development.
GECOM went into session recently. Opposition commissioners walked out almost immediately. It was over missing agenda items. The chair, Ret’d Justice Claudette Singh, said that GECOM is waiting on the honorable attorney general. The opposition member, Mr. Desmond Thomas, said that he is done with waiting, especially given that the missing agenda items have so much weight (dual citizenship, overseas voters, and voter eligibility, among others). Did the chair of GECOM get too cute with that agenda? Did the attorney general drag his feet, maybe deliberately, if I should ask? Did commissioner Thomas overreact? I give it the old effort.
Whatever the reason, the hanging agenda items that provoked so much distress, prompted that much energy, should have been present. What happens if the attorney general gets, ah, caught up in what he considers of more strategic political importance, of having the kind of standing that demands greater priority on his time, his considerations? Let everyone be aware that the attorney general is the man who has to line up the ducks (defenses) for that abominable Oil Spill Law.
Unconstitutional gives off a considerable clang in this situation. Then, there are those court cases-pending and in the development stage-that may require the filing of amicus curiae briefs by the government; perhaps, even standing in the box of defense counsel. Where would the chair of GECOM be then? What would happen to those sensitive agenda items that are so unnerving to the opposition? Would they still be left out? If they are, then it is goodbye to a quorum. Out of sheer principle alone, commissioner Thomas cannot show up at GECOM. I wouldn’t.
The upcoming elections, on which so much hinges, are must be a shared experience, with shared listening, and shared decisions that are influenced by the shared learning. Regrettably, some of the items on the GECOM agenda from now to the actual elections have all the difficulty of splitting the atom. Shifting, they will be. Elusive, to put a hand on.
And, always (always), there is the frightening weight of politics on the shoulders of each commissioner from each side. No quarter will be given, and no survivors given a hand. It is one of oil’s curses. The bigger that type of wealth, the bigger the curse, and the longer it lasts. As a reminder, this is only the runup to national elections. Whoever doesn’t know of the high stakes poker game that is in motion, had better do themselves a favor. Get with the program. Get an understanding of what is going on, from surface reactions to what come bubbling up, and the source of those.
A government that has all the numbers going for it, but the most scurrilous of reputations, will be resourceful, with a bagful of slipperiness. Whoever saw GECOM used as toy and ploy, and dancing before their eyes, are not seeing jumbie. They are dealing in reality. An opposition that has a lot of ground to cover has to recognize manmade rabbit holes, institutional decoys, and keep its mind and its feet nimble. To do otherwise would be asking to get hit with a two by four.
There was commissioner Thomas, and he marched to get out of the way of that lethal bludgeon. Leaving some things alone, by allowing them to pass, undermine past effort and future prospects in this tightest of elections races, that is not for the slow of mind, but the swift of foot. Commissioner Thomas showed that he can get out of the blocks as need be, and in a hurry. There is a soldier with whom a man could fight a war.
With all of this disagreeing, arguing, and walking out, this early in the 2025 elections preliminaries, where is Guyana going? By my calculation, it is a bad road. The environment may enjoy spurts of quiet. Because I think that matters will get worse before there’s some bettering. If matters are this deadlocked from this stage, the internationals will have to work overtime.
Meanwhile, Guyanese watch these developments, watch one another nervously, and watch beyond September One. Masks coming off, gloves coming off. These were seething and simmering before elections. Guyanese fool themselves that elections generate the worst. Oil did that. Who gets it, now features very heavily. Nobody retreats.
