Dear Editor,
President Jagdeo’s comment published in SN dated January 8, in which he is reported to have said that PNCR infighting ruined political cooperation, can be described as nothing more than political propagandizing.
The President obviously was not serious when he made this comment but was rather using whatever political waves were rippling in the PNCR to defend his party and government’s position of non-cooperation, even as the country is crying out for real political progress.
From the President’s rhetoric, it is clear that he and his party are relishing this PNCR moment, so much so that Mr Jagdeo feels confident about making certain statements aimed at ratcheting up the PNCR situation and getting into the minds of party members, supporters, and critics alike. The fact though is that Guyanese are not as naïve, gullible, and daft as the President and his cohorts think; we have been exposed to the PPP/C’s political-psychological ploys for too long.
How can the President claim that campaigning against Corbin at the last PNC/R congress derailed co-operation between the political parties, when he cites lack of trust between the parties as the major issue blocking any cooperation, and that this trust is a prerequisite to entertaining any discussion on shared governance. Guyanese will not buy into the President’s comments since we are aware of the PPP/C’s position on both political cooperation, and shared governance.
The fact is that PPP/C has been arguing since the days of Desmond Hoyte that there was a lack of trust between the parties, and they saw this as their trump card to block any progress.
No genuine attempt was ever made to give trust a try in the interest of healing a struggling nation and addressing the concerns of a frustrated people. On the issue of shared governance, the PPP/C made it clear to Desmond Hoyte and the PNCR that it was not supportive of executive power sharing. When the PNCR advocated it the PPP/C countered with what they referred to as “inclusive governance.” This inclusive governance they asserted, was demonstrated in the parliament with the establishment of the sectoral committees, where parties shared the role of chairing these committees. For them, this was sufficient cooperation and represented their concept of power sharing. The PPP/C could not care less whether power sharing might be the answer to Guyana’s deep political problems. In the article the President was ready to point out why power sharing would not work. He cited Zimbabwe and Kenya as examples of where this model of governance had been unsuccessful, but failed to point out the large number of countries where it had been implemented with varying degrees of success. Countries such as Fiji, Ireland, Malaysia, Cyprus, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Austria were not referred to by the President. Further, it is now being widely advanced that Georgia should adopt the power-sharing model of governance to solve its internal problems.
If the President and his party are serious about meaningful cooperation and digging Guyana out of the political and economic quagmire in which it has been locked for years, they would demonstrate good faith and take the lead role in advancing such cooperation. To use the PNCR internal political situation as an excuse for non-cooperation is a low blow and unfortunate political ploy; the PPP/C should be embarrassed by the President’s remarks.
The call for power sharing is nothing new, so the President and his party had a long time to carefully analyze the total benefit of this model of governance if implemented in this our pluralistic society.
Desmond Hoyte, late leader of the PNCR, stated in his address at the PNCR congress in 2001 that “the time for power sharing, shared governance, whatever you want to call it has come.”
My only concern, though, is that while the President and the government continue to play politics with the nation’s progress, the underlying frustration is continuing to heat up; people will not wait for political leaders for direction, but will take matters into their own hands.
Pippa Norris, Political Scientist and Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, had this to say on power sharing: “Power sharing institutions should be ideal models for states struggling to achieve stable democracy and good governance in divided societies.” Maybe the President and the PPP/C believe that Guyana is an ideal democracy, cemented with an undivided population and has a government that meets all the criteria of good governance. Or maybe they just done care!
The people will not buy into the President’s kind of politics. They hope, however, that he will do what is right and in the best interest of a struggling nation.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor