Independent - November 15, 2000
By Raffique Shah
LEST I be accused of demonising Forbes Burnham—and believe me, he was a demon—let me begin this second and final column on “stealing elections” by stating emphatically that he was not the only Caribbean (or, for that matter, Caricom) political leader who stood accused of using illegal or immoral means to secure or hold on to power. As for Burnham being a demon, I dare even the most faithful in the PNC to challenge this notion. It was not just his agreement to collaborate with the US and British Governments to deny Cheddi Jagan and the PPP their rightful place in government that prompted me to use that label. In fact, a graver sin of his was the active role he played in fomenting racial strife in Guyana and his absolute disregard for the consequences of such mindlessness that led to the deaths of hundreds of ordinary citizens and the destruction by fire of property in what I once described as “that cussed land”.
I must, however, recall one incident that remains indelibly etched in my memory, the cruel murder of one of the most distinguished sons of the Caribbean, Dr Walter Rodney. Whatever is said otherwise about Rodney planning to “blow up” the jail when the bomb exploded in his lap, those who recall the incident, and most of all, those of us who knew Walter well, must conclude that the one man who seemed capable of uniting the two warring “tribes” in that country was the unwitting victim of an elaborate PNC murder plot. Not satisfied with eliminating this visionary, the callous Burnham made sure his mangled corpse was left to decompose in a faulty morgue, and his PNC goons harassed and hounded his friends, relatives and supporters who had gathered to mourn his death.
I cannot forget, too, the murder in public of Catholic priest Father Darke, at the hands of Burnham’s “imported” goons, devotees of an American “preacher” Rabbi Washington, who had been invited by Burnham to set up shop in Guyana. Oh, and I almost forgot that it Burnham who had given land to another American “preacher”, Jim Jones, who went on to make history by murdering more than 900 people, including a US congressman, in a carnage that is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. So Burnham was more than a demon: he was the Devil himself.
But I do not intend to continue focusing on Burnham, who was the worst example of a heartless dictator we have seen in any Caricom country. I need point out, though, that one does not need only to “pad” voters’ lists, to accumulate the “ghost voters” Burnham did, or to gerrymander constituencies to “steal” an election. The most common form of electoral irregularity is patronage, “buying” votes through use of state funds, whether it’s via URP jobs (including people paid by the state to campaign for the party in power), or, on the eve of elections paving miles and miles of roads, giving tax relief, and other forms of largesse. Most governments are guilty of these sins of subversion, but the worst offenders in this regard were the Birds of Antigua and Eric Gairy of Grenada.
In Jamaica, where the population is almost all African, bitter PNP-JLP rivalry has led to bloodshed even worse than what took place in Guyana where there were ethnic differences to fuel the fire. In the 1980 general election, the US administration openly backed Edward Seaga and the JLP in the bloodiest battle of them all in a concerted, and successful, bid to remove Michael Manley from power. Some 900 politically-motivated murders occurred during that election campaign, JLP officials drove around the country in military-type jeeps (donated by some US organisation, probably the CIA), and I distinctly recall one ex-army officer who ran for the JLP preaching fire and brimstone from the platform.
Yet, it was the same Seaga who later coined the term “election free and fair and free from fear” when he called on Maurice Bishop to hold an election in Grenada, Bishop having seized power from Gairy by the barrel of a gun. Bishop failed to respond, which I thought then (and I still hold that view) that he should have done, since, given his immense popularity, he would have won by a canter. One wonders, though, if the 1980 election in Jamaica, which propelled Seaga to power, was either “free and fair” or “free from fear”.
In Trinidad and Tobago, there have been allegations that the PNM, from as far back as 1961, was involved in gerrymandering, in wholesale fraud by use of the voting machines (between 1961-71), and of course, using patronage to capture votes. If gerrymandering was done, then it will have compromised the independence of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), the same body that Panday today says is reliable and independent and must be left to do its job. Is it that the EBC was partisan then but independent now? I do believe there were irregularities under the PNM, but they were cleverly done so as not to be exposed.
As for the voting machines, when Williams eventually removed them and returned to the ballot box system in 1976, he prophetically remarked: “If they want ballot box, they will get ballot box. It does not matter whether we use ballot box or soap box, it’s the same licks they will get.” The PNM went on to win 24 of 36 seats in that election.
Charges of “padding” the voters’ lists have always haunted elections, but never as intensely as today. The fact that official reports were made to the EBC and the police, and that both bodies have been conducting serious investigations into the charges, does make a difference. If there was no basis for the allegations, then the police could not have secured warrants to search the home of a minister or the headquarters of the ruling party. These investigations are continuing and the EBC has rejected applications for transfer from a number of electors, all of them seeking to vote in the so-called marginal constituencies.
This is by far the most worrisome allegation of irregularities that we have had in our electoral history. If there is any truth in the charge that the bid to have large numbers of electors move to the “marginals” was orchestrated by senior officials of the UNC, then that’s not only illegal and unacceptable, but frightening. Such action undermines the very fabric of our democracy. Democracy Westminster-style allows for intense, even hostile campaigning, for parties to use lies, half-truths, innuendoes, whatever in order to win votes. But it most definitely does not sanction the illegal transfer of voters in order to enhance a party’s chances in a (or several) constituency.
When I first heard of the “vote padding” exercise, I wrote it off as election propaganda. You know how rumours run rife in “silly season”. Now, though, I have to wonder what next incumbent governments would do to retain power. Because if the UNC can do it today, and more than likely no one will end up being charged, what is to prevent the PNM, or any other party that comes to power, to fine tune the art of stealing an election in the future? This is why patriotic citizens must remain not only vigilant, but be prepared to act decisively against anyone who tries to subvert our democracy, be it by the barrel of a gun or the rigging of the electoral machinery.
Insurrectionists, I need add, are not merely those who use guns to undermine or overthrow governments. The same title can be applied to those who attempt to steal state power by whatever means they believe are necessary, including “padding” voters’ lists. Such overt electoral banditry often precipitates insurrections. Those who are bent on cheating the system through illegal means should take warning. The wrath of an electorate robbed can be fatal to the perpetrators.
Part 1 How Forbes Burnham ‘stole’ elections
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Copyright © Raffique Shah
