Sir Shridath urges Guyanese not to descend into ‘darkness’ as country nears ‘tipping point of elections crisis’

STATEMENT BY SIR SHRIDATH RAMPHAL TO THE PEOPLE OF GUYANA6th June 2020

As Guyana nears the tipping point of its ‘elections crisis’ I plead with all my fellow Guyanese not to allow our motherland to descend into the darkness of denial of the rule of law and regularity.

As Guyanese, we owe it to ourselves, to the Caribbean Community which we have helped to bring to life, and to the wider global community whose respect we have earned as an enlightened democratic State – not to debase ourselves by descent into the pit of lawlessness.

In a matter of weeks, we shall be appearing before the International Court of Justice at the worthy instance of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to appeal for global justice under international law against menace to our national patrimony. Almost three-quarters of Guyana – of land and sea – is under threat. We must protect it with clean and united hands.

Let lawfulness prevail in our country; unless it does, all of Guyana – and all its people – are imperilled!

END

Note: Sir Shridath was one of CARICOM’s “Three Wise Men” that brokered the 1998 Herdmanston Agreement after the impasse of the December 1997 General Elections in Guyana.

He is also a former Foreign Minister and Minister of Justice of Guyana, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and the University of Guyana, Chairman of the West Indian Commission