With the incidents of the period prior to and after the March 02, 2020 elections still etched in the memories of many, a young Guyanese has made the first push to objectively document those incidents in a book.
Titled “Democracy in Distress” – the book offers a compilation of several straight forward and first-hand accounts of the historical events from the vote of the No- Confidence in December 2018 to the swearing-in of a President two years later.
It puts together information from different sources into a single reference that would hopefully serve as a popular orientation for future researchers of the facts and circumstances of that period.
Written by Stephen Kissoon, the 225-page book begins with the famous quote: “Those who vote decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
Kissoon stressed that the book offers nothing but facts and is void of any biasness of the events. He said with the book now available, the documentation of the events goes beyond news articles and letters to the editor.
During a virtual book launch on Friday evening, Kissoon explained that the book offers among other things background information on Guyana’s post-independence history and the No Confidence Motion; it climaxes in Chapter Five when it documents the events of election day and immediately after.
It wraps up with the recount exercise and the final acceptance of the recount figures.
“Democracy in Distress is really a documentation of the events that took place from December 21, 2018, the evening of the No Confidence motion and it ended on August 02, 2020 with the swearing in of Dr. Irfaan Ali… it is not my account of what happened, it is not an opinionated account. It is a factual step by step account,” he stated.
Kissoon, who is an Economist and currently serves at the American Chamber of Commerce, said the book is an unbiased authority and one stop shop for future researchers.
The contributors are pulled from across the world and include both local politicians and international observers. Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall said the book is remarkable in that it stands to benefit future generations.
For this, he said Kissoon must be commended. Nandlall said he was particularly pleased with how the book offers a compendium of the events in a manner that is objective and detached from any bias.
How you write ah whole article and you didn’t tell we wheh fuh get the book?