March 4, 2020: The heart has its reasons
Kaieteur News – If we’re going to look back at the disastrous election in March 2020, we have to start on March 4, two days after voting on March 2. On this day the world began to see evidence of a conspiracy to the election rig. It began with instructions given, I believe, to the GECOM Secretariat by the PNC and AFC leaders.
As only one other, out of the 10 Districts, was left to count, District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo became an active mechanism. I cannot comment on Mingo’s criminal trial because of the sub judice principle but that restriction cannot prevent me from saying that I believe his arrest and subsequent charge are justified. Hopefully he faces a judge and jury. I have the same feeling about the criminal procedures against Deputy Chief Returning Officer Roxanne Myers and Chief Returning Officer Keith Lowenfield.
I spent most of the morning and afternoon sessions of March 4 at Kaieteur Radio studio. Through the guests we invited and KN journalists who dealt with the blatant fraud at the GECOM command center, I knew that Guyana was about to return to 1968 when it experienced its first Draculean smothering to destroy the right to vote.
There were people coming in and out of the studio and a defining air of an impending national disaster filled my mind. All the talk of those people coming in and going out of the studio was about an electoral disaster. There was constant debate about the irregularities, inconsistencies, unexplainedness of what was happening at the command center and everyone was talking about Claudette Singh, but I hardly commented.
I wasn’t aware of all the things being said around me in the studio because my mind was elsewhere. I was overcome with swirling thoughts about Guyana being a pariah in the world once again. I remember that Adam Harris and Glenn Lall were in deep debate over what role the observers should play, with Harris stubbornly adhering to the Vincent Alexander narrative that all observers could and should do, just observe and not a larger world.
I remember Alexander quoting the part of the law that limited him to observer status only which Harris agreed to. But Mr Lall called Sase Gunraj by telephone to ask for an interpretation of that particular section of the law. Gunraj took the opposite view and argued that nowhere in the law does it specify that observers must sit and watch alone.
When all this was happening in the studio, I was a maudlin. I remember as Mr. Lall and Adam Harris argued, I went out because my soul could not endure another rigid election thoughts. All my youthful days were tormented by a tough election. It was about noon and I left for home. On my way, Leonard Gildarie called my cell and asked me to return to the studio.
I remember Gildarie’s words vividly. He urged me to return saying that I owe Guyanese people an obligation to inform them. My heart could not be filled with pessimistic visions. I was proud of my political activism from the age of 16. My heart told me to turn the car around and get back. I went back to the station and stayed for almost three weeks every day.
March 4, 2020 will stay with me until my time on earth is spent. I knew on that day, my soul would never rest in peace if I did not fight again for free and fair elections. From March 4 until Dr. Irfaan Ali took an oath as president on August 2, I dedicated a daily column to what Gildarie said was my obligation to the Guyanese people.
On polling day, March 2, honestly I didn’t care who won. I knew it would be better to get a third party or some small parties to brake either the PPP or PNC government. I felt that so many of us, East Indians and Africa owe a debt to the Amerindia people. We came here to meet them and do much better than them. For me, the logical choice was to vote for an Amerindia party led by a gentleman from Amerindia. I voted for Lenox Shuman.
On March 4, Clairmont Mingo changed everything. March 4 is gone by a year now and my life has changed for the better. March 4 showed me aspects of the human I would have never seen. I have received a ton of abuse from people who accused me of bringing the PPP back. I didn’t bring back the PPP. I followed my heart and the heart has its reasons.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.)