This two-party, winner-take-all approach to governance in Guyana is failing the Guyanese people, miserably. Imagine in a country that has a democratic approach to governance, the majority of the voters have to just sit back and allow either of the ruling parties to shaft them, with impunity! For the better part of 23 long years, we were subjected to the onslaught of the PPP. They used the blind support of their loyal Indian supporters, with a token amount of bought Indigenous and Black votes, to maintain their slight majority. And over the years they inflicted and molested us with every kind of political depravity that they can think up.
The stole billions for them, their families and their close friends; they took huge chunks of lands in the primmest parts of the country, at giveaway prices; they blatantly refused to meet with the Unions that represented those they believed to be members of the opposition; they increased their salaries in disproportionate quotas; and the atrocities went on and on. Until the country could take no more and we fought tooth and nail to remove those wicked, vicious politicians from power.
But in just two short years, Guyana has proven that most of our career politicians are daft and insensitive. We have run from the proverbial coffin and butt up with the jumbie. Who would have taught that a government that scrapped into power by a mere one-seat majority, would be this politically and humanistically tone deaf? Who would have ever thought that a party that was out of office for two decades can be this uncaring and stiff-necked? But here we are.
First, they raised their salaries from the staggering amount of $500,000 to a dazzling $800,000, plus entertainment and travel allowances. Plus the tax payers pay all their utilities bills, plus we pay for their gardeners, guards, chauffeurs (who drive them and the spouse and children, any and everywhere they desire), and if they are renting, we pay their rent.
Yet, the students and parents who are begging them to remove the diabolical VAT on tuition are being told that that would allow for an untold burden on the finances of the country. The Prime Minister, Mr. Moses Nagamootoo, held a straight face and told the protesting children that his Government will not relent on keeping the ungodly tax on education. Imagine. Just imagine a government that is so heartless and unsympathetic. In a country that is known for its brain drain and academic misfits, this government sees fit to place a tax on the brains of the Guyanese.
The United Republican Party (URP), is again convinced that there must be some sinister plot to rig the upcoming elections. There is no other logical reason for the manner in which this PNC-Coalition is managing the affairs of the nation. How can a party with a simple majority be so uncouth, stubborn and indifferent towards the people who risk all to support them? Don’t they understand that if the PPP gets back into power, their supporters will be severely victimized, ostracized and relegated again to 2nd class citizens? Are the PNC and the AFC that politically dumb to not see the handwriting on the wall?
Are they not hearing the vicious drumbeat of the PPP henchman and his cronies? I told Mr. Granger, while on a flight to New York after the last elections, that the URP stands willing and ready to work with his administration. I have yet to receive one call from the President, signaling his promised ‘big-tent’ approach to governance. However, I and the country are watching as this government mimics the worse of the Jagdeo-behaviours. They are financially positioning themselves to leave office as wealthy and financially established as they can be. They are governing, not with the interest of the population at heart but with their own personal futures in mind. The URP is very concerned that these two large parties are convinced that they can take advantage of the Guyanese people because their political allegiance is so predictable that either way, one of them will win. Editor, the URP is working feverishly to provide another option for the Guyanese people. Guyana must not suffer another half-century of this kind of political and financial abuse. With the URP a third party in parliament, this nonsense will stop!
Editor, I spoke recently about that fact that Mr. Jagdeo and the PPP do not support constitutional reform because of the 23 years they were able to use the 1980 Burnham Constitution to keep Guyana stifled. They are now saying that breaches to the constitution are their reason for a lack of their support of any reform. That is like someone saying, “I will not leave this broken relationship until my husband or wife stops abusing me.”
What the PPP are doing is running down the clock until the next general elections where they realize that they stand a good chance of winning because the Coalition is substantially weakened as the AFC (Indian voters) are pledging to return to the PPP fold, while the other AFC supporters are begging for a 3rd party.
If the argument of Mr. Jagdeo is that the constitution is broken and that the PNC-Coalition is compounding the brokenness, would it not stand to reason that these are all the more causes to speed up the reform process? Who does Mr. Jagdeo think he is fooling? He is stalling.
I was a part of the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) that was formed in the 80’s. Several of Guyana’s opposition parties were a part of this PCD; including the PPP and the WPA. Dr. Cheddie Jagan was a frequent figure when we met for consultations on ways to bring about free and fair elections in Guyana. One of the most discussed items on our agenda was the reformation of the “Burnham Constitution” because we saw how it divided the country and how it was oppressive. We got President Jimmy Carter to support us and he eventually came to Guyana and convened a process that eventually brought about the change we all longed for.
Imagine then my complete frustration that after 23 years of PPP unilateral rule, we still have the most repressive components of the 1980 constitution being used to retard Guyana’s development and harmony. Recently, the Prime Minister, Mr. Nagamootoo brought in some UN experts to discuss the process to constitutional reform. When the three-man team visited the PPP office, they were told that the PPP will only support the reforms if the PNC institutes the outstanding Commissions. A few weeks ago the Carter Center sponsored a forum at the UG Turkeyen Campus, to discuss the way forward on constitutional reform. Again, none of the PPP representatives were there.
How can you say that you support constitutional reform and yet be placid about any drive that would facilitate it? Dr. Jagan must be turning in his preverbal grave.
Jagdeo is appearing to be concerned about the involvement of the British and the UN, as if those entities will do anything to the constitution that Jagdeo and the PPP cannot have altered. It takes 2/3 of the Parliament to amend the constitution. Again this is just the stalling game of Jagdeo.
Jagdeo knows full well that the PNC have zero appetite for the amendments to anything Burnham. The PNC tried to reform the party by adding “Reform” to its name (PNC-R). Where is that Reform today? Where is even the “R”? Mr. Nagamootoo, an outsider inside the PNC, is playing along with the PPP because he too knows that Jagdeo only wants to get back into power; he cares nothing about any substantial reforming of the constitution. The Burnham Constitution is just fine for a young dictator like him.
So it is the Guyanese people who are being made fools and pawns in this power struggle between these two parties. Until there is an objective, mitigating force in the parliament to formally institute articles for the amendment of the Guyana Constitution, it is not likely to happen.