Everything is back to normal. The PNC is on the streets, and the government is in ‘buse-up’ mode. For that segment of the weary citizenry which has to go to work every day and feed children and find money for school books and pay the rent and meet the GPL charges and still survive till month-end, this latest face-off by the two political dinosaurs is an irrelevancy, and a dangerous one at that. And this is despite the fact that the current flurry of marching around the city is ostensibly to protest the rise in the cost of living. The real danger is that between the PNCR’s irresponsibility and the PPP/C’s appalling judgement, the situation has the potential to deteriorate without any of the major political players actually intending this consequence.
But to begin at the beginning. Exactly what the PNCR took to the streets for in the first place is not altogether clear, since they seemed to latch onto any topic that was in vogue at the time, including the ban on Channel 6, the cost of living, and, most mysteriously, Carifesta, which was founded by the late Pres-ident Burnham no less. Considering that President Jagdeo was under pressure on all fronts, no great action was required on the part of the main opposition; they just had to sit and wait, and say their piece in Parliament and elsewhere while the government floundered. As it is now they have made themselves the centrepiece of criticism, and the PPP/C can mount its favourite hobby-horse spouting its usual florid rhetoric – which is not to say that the PNCR has not had some florid rhetoric of its own to spout.
Exactly how the PNCR thought it would dissuade a significant segment of its own constituency from attending Carifesta is not clear; in a city notoriously lacking entertainment, music and dancing of a high standard would be too much of a temptation to resist. Be that as it may, it hardly does the Leader of the Opposition any credit that he would seek to make a major regional festival “unmanageable.” That is not the occasion or the issue on which to confront the government. One might have thought the party would have worked out that they cannot afford a fiasco involving the region which is blamed on them.
And then there is the present cost-of-living protest. As far as the price of food staples is concerned, the government has little purchase on that situation in the short term, as the PNCR well knows. Where the cost of living generally is concerned, there is the matter of VAT, which aside from the increase in the number of items zero rated, the government has to date declined to review. Having said that, however, once the protestors are undisciplined – which they have been – the PPP/C doesn’t have to bother itself about any issues they may be highlighting; the whole focus then becomes the PNCR’s behaviour.
Now one must presume that Mr Corbin has been under pressure from his grass roots supporters to go out on the streets, and they probably are not too fussy about the issues he selects for protest. There is enormous frustration among opposition supporters and no doubt others too with the government. (It might be said in passing that the administration, which seems to be fitted with cast-iron earplugs, is oblivious to just how unpopular it is in some quarters.) In addition, Mr Corbin’s standing in the party is nothing like what Mr Hoyte’s was, and it may be he felt that leading a protest would revive his reputation which after all had taken a public battering during the leadership contest. Whatever the case, leaders are supposed to lead and not be led from behind; their decisions should be rational and should be based on what is best for the party, and, it must be added, the country as well.
Whatever the rationale behind the protests, whether justified or not, there was absolutely no excuse for the behaviour that the PNCR protestors displayed on the road on May 8, not simply ignoring the authorized route, but burning Mr Jagdeo’s effigy outside Parliament. No matter what his shortcomings, there is simply no excuse in our present situation for that display of vulgarity. And as for, pushing down police barriers, frightening shoppers and panicking shopkeepers, how can that possibly be defended? At the very least, it will certainly do nothing to help the cost of living.
In a general sense, the police commendably have been very restrained in their response to the protestors. Whether they could have done more when a segment of the marchers broke away from the May 8 protest, is not clear. All that can be said is, they were hardly in a position to use tear gas in a crowded area with children around. In general, however, at a time like this confrontation should be avoided if at all possible, and the police seem to have managed this successfully. However, refusing permission for the last march – no doubt on political instructions – was futile since it went ahead anyway (although it was not called a march). Withholding permission creates conditions for possible disorder, and it is better to have an official route and leave the pressure on the PNCR to see the protestors behave in a disciplined way.
The matter of the arrest of Mr Corbin’s driver last week for advertising an illegal march through a loud-speaker on his car is a problematic issue. In the first instance one wonders why he should have been sent to undertake this task rather than some other driver; it seems at best unnecessarily provocative and at worst specifically intended to produce a reaction. This notwithstanding, arresting him could only up the temperature, and the preferred wisdom would have been for the police to resist zeal in this instance.
The arrest of Mr Corbin’s security officer is in a different category. Considering he was not charged, one must presume the orders emanated from political quarters. If so, it was recklessness of the highest order. If the police had no hard evidence, the last thing they should have been doing is harassing a man charged with protecting the Leader of the Opposition. It can only serve to inflame passions and drive us into a twilight zone. The Minister of Home Affairs would be well advised to rethink tactics, and if, as he claims, the police act on their own, then give them some much-needed advice.
In tandem with this is the usual rhetoric emanating from PPP/C spokesmen with its serious allegations about the opposition. It has made them before, but now we have a situation where there is no one with sufficient influence to bring calm to troubled waters. If the governing party doesn’t have evidence to charge people, it should not be making accusations. There are wild men and guns aplenty in this country, and a deteriorating political context gives them cover to move into action. With the attack on the Ministry of Culture, they look as if they may already be in this mode. While neither of the major political parties may intend a confrontation, we could potentially reach a situation of chaos by default.
Will both of them listen to the harried, nervous and overburdened citizens of this land, and step back from the brink?
