Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 22, 2010 Letters
Dear Editor,
The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) believes that if ever there was the need by the opposition political parties and other civil society organisations in Guyana for collective action to protect the fundamental rights of citizens against the excesses of the Jagdeo government, that need is manifested in the latest directive issued to GECOM by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon.
Dr. Luncheon, on September 16, 2010 instructed GECOM to ensure that all advertisements relative to the holding of the 2011 General and Regional Elections, with the exception of those pertaining to discharging GECOM’s constitutional and legal responsibilities, must be carried only on the government’s web site. Luncheon went on to state that if GECOM does otherwise the government will not be providing the funds to meet those expenses.
The WPA warns that the government’s threat to GECOM via Luncheon is very clear and should not and must not be ignored by persons and organisations that value freedom and have over time, struggled to enshrine democratic principles in the lives of Guyanese.
As a political party which has always been in the forefront of the fight for the holding of free and fair elections in Guyana, which WPA has always said includes the rights of citizens to be aware of every aspect of the process that impacts on the holding of these elections, we cannot ignore what this means not only for the elections that are due to be held in 2011 but for the future of the electoral process and the lives and livelihood of all Guyanese, for as long as the PPP clings to power in Guyana.
Notwithstanding Dr. Luncheon’s lame attempt on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 to assure Guyanese that it is not his government’s intention to tamper with the process, WPA reiterates its position that the directive to GECOM on September 16th to limit advertisements on matters pertaining to the elections to the government’s website indicates tampering of the process by the government has already taken place.
The WPA cannot and will not ignore an important element in the equation, which is well known to the Jagdeo government i.e. very few Guyanese have access to computers. By virtue of this limited access information posted on the website will be known only to a select few and will remain unknown to the larger body of citizens. The government’s decision to limit advertisements to its website demonstrates that there will be developments around the 2011 elections (including attempts to push back the elections well beyond the due date thereby providing President Jagdeo with his much sought after extended stay in office), which it will not wish to have exposed to Guyanese. The WPA deems the decision as being sinister.
It is in this context that we call on all patriotic Guyanese, opposition political parties and civil society
organisations and individuals to join forces to ensure that GECOM carries out its mandate to the people without interference from the government.
The WPA wishes to make it very clear that this is not a call for alliance building to contest the 2011 elections but, because we recognise the urgency for a unified approach against the government on issues of fundamental importance to all Guyanese we feel bold to make this appeal.
The WPA calls on GECOM to say if it had agreed, as Luncheon alleged in his press briefing on October 20th, with the government’s decision and if it is also true as alleged by him that some members of GECOM now appear to have developed second thoughts on the matter.
Finally, the WPA also calls on GECOM to resist this attempt by government to further compromise its independence. The future of free and fair elections in Guyana to a large extent rests in GECOM’s hands.
Working People’s Alliance
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