Dysfunctions
Time to Recognize Dr. Irfaan Ali as President of Guyana
By HSNW, 31 July 2020
Aug 1, 2020 - 2:59:36 PM

National elections were held on 2 March in the Republic of Guyana, in South America. The incumbent President David Granger lost by nearly 6 percent. The opposition presidential candidate, Dr. Irfaan Ali, won. Granger has refused to accept the voters’ verdict, and has done everything to try to illegally change, falsify, and delay the election results, and illegally keep power – and allow him and his coterie time to steal everything not bolted down. There comes a point when patience is no longer a virtue, and delay becomes complicity. Democracy cannot survive if the actions of a would-be dictator and his flunkies to cancel or defraud an election - the will of the voters - are allowed to stand. Dr. Irfaan Ali won the 2 March election. Without any further delay, America should recognize his election, and recognize him as the President of Guyana. It is time for the United States, and Guyana’s other international friends, to end this farce. Recognize Dr. Irfaan Ali as President now and assist him, with police and military assistance if necessary, to restore democracy in Guyana.

National elections were held on 2 March in the Republic of Guyana, in South America. This newspaper sent accredited international observers to the election. The results were clear - and not close. The incumbent President David Granger lost by nearly 6 percent. The opposition presidential candidate, Dr. Irfaan Ali, won.

The breakdown of seats in the country’s National Assembly, which has not been allowed to meet in nineteen months, should be 33 seats for Ali’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP); 31 seats for the multiple parties in Granger’s A Party for National Unity (APNU) coalition; and one seat for a minor party. That should have been the end of it. Ali should long ago have been sworn in as President.

But Guyana is on the cusp of a massive oil boom, soon to become the second richest oil country in the world, after Kuwait. And Granger has done everything to try to illegally change, falsify, and delay the election results, and illegally keep power so he and those close to him could steal everything not bolted down.

The past five months have seen six brazen, and ridiculous, attempts by Granger and his APNU party cabal to falsify the election results. And a dozen frivolous lawsuits to cause delay in announcing the results - the last of which was dismissed by Guyana’s top Court just yesterday. Granger’s supporters have attacked the head of the Elections Commission, firebombed foreign embassies, threatened Americans and other international observers, and arrested people protesting the fraud. The Granger’s clique is now threatening to arrest the head of the Elections Commission if she dares to certify the election results.

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and the Caribbean island states have all had enough. All have told Granger to get out. On 15 July, the United States imposed sanctions on him and his coterie. International organizations - the UN, CARICOM, and the OAS - have all demanded that Dr. Ali be sworn in. Guyana is rapidly becoming a pariah state - a “Venezuela 2.0.”

There comes a point when patience is no longer a virtue, and delay becomes complicity. Democracy cannot survive if the actions of a would-be dictator and his flunkies to cancel or defraud an election - the will of the voters - are allowed to stand. That was the fate of Weimar Germany.

Dr. Irfaan Ali won the 2 March election. Without any further delay, America should recognize his election, and recognize him as the President of Guyana.

As President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali can request military assistance from the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, CARICOM, and other allies of Guyana, if needed, to remove Granger and his cabal from the country’s government buildings, which they now illegally occupy. Guyana’s small, 2,000-man U.S.-trained military has already announced that it will not interfere and will not comply with any illegal orders from Granger.

The desperate effort by Granger and his clique to illegally keep power is not a serious long-term coup. It is more like a staged bank robbery, designed to allow Granger and his gang more time to raid the international credit, cash reserves, oil revenues, and physical assets of the country, before they all inevitably flee the country.

It is time for the United States, and Guyana’s other international friends, to end this farce. Recognize Dr. Irfaan Ali as President now and assist him, with police and military assistance if necessary, to restore democracy in Guyana.