Dear Editor,
I had a hard time discerning whether Pastor Rocky Lall’s tone in his letter captioned “President Jagdeo deserves two more terms” (07.10.11) was satirical or serious in nature. If the good gentleman was in fact offering serious commentary, then I must give him credit for expressing such an intolerable idea. His judgment tells him that because a president has achieved some measure of success during his/her tenure, it qualifies him/her to serve beyond his/her constitutionally mandated term.
My own belief is in concert with the opinion expressed by Mr. Richard Davies when he said that “politicians in government should be changed regularly, like diapers, for the same reason.”
My personal view aside, the academic literature tells us that extended term limits often leads to ineffective government and represents a violation of basic democratic values; particularly because incumbents usually have huge built-in advantages in their electoral competition over their challengers. This creates a situation where the “freedom of choice” aspect that is often expounded as a basic democratic principle more or less disappears.
Regardless of how supremely and undeniably great some might perceive a president to be, I, for one, would feel very uncomfortable if such an occupation were to manifest itself.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
