APNU+AFC banking on Joe Biden administration for improved relations

Last Updated on Saturday, 7 November 2020, 23:09 by Denis Chabrol

Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon is  hoping that the incoming administration of United States President-elect Joe Biden will improve the political and social conditions in Guyana.

“We commit to working with you to rebuild trust between our peoples, strengthening goodwill and re-establishing constitutional democracy and social cohesion in Guyana after a recent period of political and social turmoil and distress,”  Mr. Harmon told Biden in a congratulatory letter.

Mr. Harmon’s A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition has filed two election petitions in the High Court, claiming that the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections were rigged through impersonation of dead people and migrants as well as unverified votes found in more than 46 ballot boxes.

He later told a news conference that over the past three weeks, US administration officials had “willingly accepted telephone calls and conversations from us and we believe they are now better briefed on the situation in Guyana.” “We, therefore, look forward to an excellent working relationship with this administration,” Mr. Harmon added.

The Opposition Leader said the coalition was “very optimistic about a change in certain attitudes” based on meetings with American officials who suggested that there should be contact with the Biden-Harris campaign.

Reflecting on US Secretary of State , Michael Pompeo’s visit to Guyana, Mr. Harmon indicated that the opposition was snubbed by failing to meet with opposition officials.

The Republican administration of Donald Trump had been among numerous nations around the world that had insisted that the then APNU+AFC administration accept the results of the national vote recount that showed the PPP won the general elections.

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), which is the dominant political party in the APNU+AFC coalition, had enjoyed support for being in power during the Cold War era, largely to keep Cheddi Jagan’s People’s Progressive Party  (PPP) out of office for fear that he would have spread communism further in the Western Hemisphere and make Guyana a second Soviet outpost.

After the collapse of the Berlin Wall that had marked the end of that period, the US had said it was time for free and fair elections which were eventually held in 1992 and had seen President Cheddi Jagan return to power for the first time in almost 30 years.