Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield has today, 8th April, 2020, made a proposal that it would take 155 days to complete the national recount of votes cast in the March 2, 2020 elections. This preposterous and outrageous proposal is a clear attempt to frustrate the recount process by making a proposal that will put Guyana in an economic deadlock for at least the next 5 months.
So far, Guyana cannot access the first payment of oil revenues due to the lack of a legitimate government. Furthermore, Norway has blocked 34 million dollars in climate change aid and the World Bank has not responded yet to an application by the government for a 5 Million US dollars loan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Government ministers are refusing to take a pay cut (which they have doubled since taking office) on the grounds that they have “family to feed.”
An understaffed, under-equipped and overladen healthcare system in Guyana has left several Guyanese dead from coronavirus – with the lives of the vast majority still in serious jeopardy. Now that Guyana is not expected to have the benefit of a legitimate government for at least 5 months, it is the general Guyanese population who will be feeling the impact of a stagnated economy and a generally under-financed and incompetent public healthcare system.
