AMID the spiralling crime wave and heightened fears in society in the months and weeks leading up to the 2006 elections, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds has expressed surprise and satisfaction that the elections period was so “astonishingly trouble-free”.
“We have all been astonished at how problem-free our 2006 elections turned out, especially so when one recalls the acrimonious sounding debates on various procedures and processes over the last nine months or so preceding the elections,” the Prime Minister said.
He recalled that the brutal slaying of Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh, two siblings and a guard at his residence only four months before Elections Day added significantly to the fears in society.
“Many of us, if not the majority of us, feared the worst and many of us, even days after the results were announced, were still fearful that something would happen,” Mr. Hinds told a high-level gathering at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown Monday, shortly after receiving the final report from the Organisation of American States (OAS) mission that observed the August 28 elections.
“It is with a sense of Guyana possibly being at a significant turning point in its social and political history that I receive this official report of the OAS Observer Mission on our 2006 national and regional elections,” declared the Prime Minister.
He received the comprehensive 102-page report from OAS Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Albert Ramdin.
In his remarks later, and in response to Mr. Hinds’ repeated surprise at how trouble-free the elections were, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Dr. Steve Surujbally said he was confident from day one the elections would have been held in a smooth and peaceful manner.
Given the elaborate preparations and systems that were in place, Surujbally felt the success of the elections was somewhat inevitable.
“Woe ye of little faith,” the GECOM Chairman declared, to grins from the audience.
The OAS, in its report, noted that “despite concerns about security, Elections Day proved to be peaceful”.
“From the outset, the OAS established close contact with the Disciplined Forces and law enforcement and witnessed their deployment to polling sites throughout the country. Communication between the security forces facilitates comprehensive coverage and allowed for quicker responses to potential security threats than in previous elections,” the report stated.
Mr. Hinds said the presence of the local and especially foreign observers, and the institutionalising of observer missions for these elections “contributed greatly to the trouble-free elections we have had”.
“The presence of observers, the long term observers arriving months before Elections Day, puts us all on our good behaviour and tempers the disputes and contentions which might otherwise flare into violence,” he said.
As Elections Day drew near and the campaign heated up, the Prime Minister said it was good to have independent observers monitoring and commenting on speeches and advertisements “so that we might rein ourselves in when the intensity of the rivalry might carry us away from the acceptable path”.
In Guyana, and quite likely in other countries - particularly developing ones, with very high voter turnouts, everyone feels strongly about the parties contesting the elections (and) there would be few if any of the persons tasked with running the elections, who would not have a preferred party, he said.
On Elections Day in particular, Mr. Hinds added, many may be tempted or find themselves suspected of being tempted to do whatever they could to favour the party of their choice.
“Of course, the arrangements for polling agents to be trained and to be present, and this year paying polling agents for the party in office and the main opposition party, creates the circumstances for any favouring by any official to be noticed and to be challenged,” he said.
“There is no doubt that the presence of international observers on Elections Day in particular serves to deter any yielding to temptation and lowers the anxiety and intense anger of challenges,” the Prime Minister added.
“We do believe that the endorsements of the elections process and the declared results by the local and international observers including the OAS, CARICOM, Commonwealth, Carter Center and contingents of the diplomatic community accredited in Guyana contributed tremendously to the astonishing trouble-free nature of the 2006 elections.”
While thinking of reasons for the trouble-free nature of the August 28 elections, Mr. Hinds said persons must bear in mind that the 2006 elections also took place against a background of a programme of reform in Constitution and Governance.
“I want to believe that our country’s progress in this reform contributed also to the trouble-free 2006 elections,” he posited.
“The government believes that the 2006 elections indicates that Guyana and we Guyanese may have found ourselves at a point where we may be beginning to find a Parliamentary democracy with which we could live,” the Prime Minister asserted.
“We must all continue to work to make this so,” he added.