Dear Editor,

In the New Year speech of the Opposition Leader, I was inspired by the announcement that the PNC has taken a definite position to support the cause of executive shared governance for the political future of Guyana. Credit must be given to the political leaders of the past from Independence to now; their efforts caused us to evolve and their errors have taught some of us at least, to recognize what doesn’t work. But the ideals of the ‘isms’ have morphed into a new entity where only the most innovative can steer the nation forward.

Thus a system which strips away the mediocrity of nepotistic political royalty as well as intercepts the callous manipulations of those with hidden selfish agendas must be implemented to raise our small nation out of our ‘Dark Ages’ of stagnant dogmas and social customs.

There must be a new level of maturity and courage displayed by those who seek political office; they must understand that political office is not a ‘runnings’ where a concern about perks replaces the commitment to work and service. Though easier said than done the serious task of preserving and extracting our nation from its current rot must prevail. It is proven that neither the PPP nor the PNC has the complete human resources to stimulate the levels of social justice and economic vision required for the survival of a modern state, though the latter was better equipped. as to date the PPP has done nothing to expand on the institutions they inherited, such as the NIS and the GDF, but rather has infected and distorted them, causing public disillusionment.

The dialogue on shared governance must begin in every stratum of our society; no longer can we afford to have the mediocrity and opportunism which now isolates the young and gifted to predominate. The villages, districts and towns of Guyana must in the future benefit from a constitution that allows them to recommend the best instead of the most popular and the ‘shirt buttons’ to look after their interests. We must begin the process of the ‘mind’ as against ‘feelings’; our laws and not their abuse must guide our public actions.

In closing I must reluctantly comment on the publication of an advertisement in both the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News by members of the PNC on Sunday, January 10, 2010 complaining that Mr Corbin did not acknowledge the members of his party as much as he did the opponents of the PNC’s constituency and the people responsible for much of our misery today. I listened to his New Year speech, and the items I was looking for probably rendered those sentiments less important. What struck me was that for an advertiser, those ads came up to some two hundred thousand dollars. In the light of the human interest stories published in SN in November and December, imagine what a little over a quarter of  that money would have meant to the Donna Herod family, the family of Kerry Edwards (Christmas Day edition) and Lilawattie Persaud of Hog Island. These are three families who would have benefited much more from the money which was spent on a whole-page ad that illustrated through its vague content a desperate desire for political power and a continuation of the same problems that beset us today. I want to invite these people with money to participate in the efforts of the Ronald Waddell Forum for Political & Social Justice, of which I am a part. Our work on the East Coast involves fatherless children in some villages; we guarantee accountability, and the meaningful use of hard-to-acquire funds.

Yours faithfully,
Barrington Braithwaite