FORMER United States President Jimmy Carter was by last evening expected to announce whether his Atlanta-based Carter Center would remain involved in Guyana, especially in the context of the democratic renewal process.
Mr Carter has been a good friend to Guyana and has stayed closely involved, through the Carter Center, since his determined efforts to help wrest critical electoral reforms which led to the first free and fair elections here on October 5, 1992.
That was no easy task since it meant uprooting a system of fraudulent elections and all its accompanying ills that had become entrenched for almost three decades.
Paving the way for free and fair elections also meant ending the way of life for a once all-powerful group and no one expected that democratic renewal was going to be easy.
Mr Carter himself testified to this after observing the October 1992 elections.
He wrote: “When we served as the primary international monitors in 1992, the first really free and fair election, there were serious riots in Georgetown, with three people killed and several dozen wounded.
A number of stores and other buildings were burned before police could restore order. This was when I was most in physical danger since leaving the White House -- or, in fact, since leaving the submarine service. I was surrounded by an irate mob that had already destroyed the central election headquarters and was rescued only after appealing twice by telephone to incumbent president Desmond Hoyte, whose party members had launched the riots when they learned that they would probably lose the election after 28 years in power.”
He returned to observe the 1997 election which was won by Mrs Janet Jagan.
That election was judged free and fair by international observers but he noted that the election results were disputed, and, following unrest, the Caribbean Community negotiated an accord under which the PPP/Civic administration agreed to shorten its term from five to three years.
Mr Carter also observed the March 2001 poll that was again won by the PPP/Civic and again there was unrest by those refusing to accept defeat in a free and fair process.
That’s been the kernel of the problem in this country since the historic October 2, 1992 elections - an unwillingness by some to accept electoral defeat to the extent of preaching `slow fire’ and `more fire’ and attempting to drive fear into the rest of the country.
In other countries in the region with a long tradition of democracy, defeated parties accept the results of free and fair elections and do not burn and loot in efforts to derail the process.
What is needed here is a mindset change among some political groups hoping to get into power through the back door.
They cannot be allowed to continue to try to hold the country to hostage and while efforts continue for greater inclusiveness in governance, parties must be told that they have to abide by the will of the majority of the people in internationally-sanctioned elections.
Mr Carter has stressed his “deep personal interest in Guyana” and believes the “basic integrity of its political, social, and economic systems must be made more responsive to the needs and aspirations of all Guyanese”.
Given his genuine commitment to seeing Guyana on the right course, the majority of Guyanese would welcome his continued engagement here.