…with our politics
The Carter Center tempered their congratulations to the new Ali Administration by insisting that the five-month long elections “highlight(ed) deep divides that persist in Guyanese society and the ways that the current political and electoral systems reinforce these divisions”. They suggested “electoral and constitutional reform”. Your Eyewitness vehemently and emphatically disagrees!!
Yep… there are definitely “divides” in Guyana. But which society on planet earth doesn’t have “divides”?? In even the most homogenous societies in the world – say Japan and the Scandinavian countries, you have class divisions. Human beings will always divide themselves…it’s the way with the world. The challenge is for leaders to work for the good of the country and not exploit divisions. And that’s the problem in Guyana!
The PNC exploits our Guyanese divisions for their own narrow, selfish compulsion to rule in the image of their founder-leader Burnham and seize power by hook or crook. Especially by crook! That’s all there is to what went down over the last year and a half. How in the world do you FIX a situation that works in every parliamentary democracy in the world with absolutely no problem – the NO Confidence Motion (NCM) – with “electoral and constitutional reform”?? Do you need “electoral and constitutional” reform to make the PNC accept that 33 is the majority of 65 – especially when they had got into office with that majority??
And that’s the problem we have in Guyana….it’s a situation that has nothing to do with Guyana’s “divisions” and everything to do with the PNC and their bullyism. Your Eyewitness knows where the Carter Center’s coming from. They’ve been harping on this theme ever since they became involved with Guyana’s elections back in the 1990s. At that time, they helped with “electoral and constitutional reform” that saw the PNC given greater Parliamentary power over the government through the “Parliamentary Sectoral Committees” that had oversight over every aspect of the government’s work.
But that didn’t satisfy, the PNC did it?? And the bottom line is nothing else but total power for ever and ever will ever satisfy them. The demographic change in our country – wrought by the PNC’s reversion to violence after every election which pushed Indian Guyanese emigration – has resulted in a situation where there’s no one group that has an absolute majority. All the PNC has to do is rein in its thuggish behaviour – like it did in 2015 – and it can gain office through the electoral and constitutional system we have in place.
The Americans have a pithy saying that’s very apt for us right now: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Just have the PNC fix their demons!!
…with fixing Guyana
Your Eyewitness takes absolutely no credit for President Ali coming out with the double-barrelled announcement that he’s prioritising the COVID-19 fight and the economy – just because you read in this space that this was the way to go!! Fact is, any administration that wasn’t just consumed with holding on to power by any means necessary would’ve done the same. But we just described the PNC to a “T”! Didn’t we??
Your Eyewitness isn’t saying it’s gonna be easy…but damn! if you don’t identify your problem, how are you ever gonna fix it?? Take the COVID “fight” by the PNC. Hadn’t the medical officer been emphasising the porous borders with Brazil is a challenge?? Did she even have to tell the Government’s COVID Task Force? How come it took President Ali on his first day at the office to bring the GDF Chief-of-Staff and the Police Commissioner? Aren’t these the institutions responsible for our borders??
Your Eyewitness guarantees that the new PPP Administration will immediately work to equip the COVID-19 Hospital!
…with personnel
It doesn’t matter how circumspect the PPP will be in getting personnel in place to implement their plans. The PNC will still come down on them like a ton of bricks.
Deliberately designed to widen our divisions.
