Dear Editor,
Guyana headed to the polls yesterday after what has to be one of the nastiest campaigns ever run by a political party in this country. But there is a bigger question to the election: is there any morality, integrity, humility and humanity left in Guyana? For example, a man like Moses
Nagamootoo has been hanged in the court of public opinion by the PPP despite him making great sacrifices to return to school to earn an honest living as a lawyer so he would not corrupt himself from the taxpayers’ purse. Many who are disgusted with corruption think Mr Nagamootoo was wrong when he was clearly morally right. If we had those vital values, we would be voting for change. If we have the morality to go to church, mandir and mosque and pray for a better life, we should have the morality to go out and vote for a better life. If we have personal humanity, we should use our votes to create a systemic and societal humanity. If we live by decency, we can’t vote for indecent men and feel ashamed that they do not reflect our values.
Our political choices are no different from our personal choices. A personal decision not to steal that stems from a fundamental rejection of stealing is no different from a decision to vote to prevent a known thief from getting political office or to stop stealing. If stealing is wrong, it
must be wrong on all counts. If we develop a convenient morality on matters of absolute principle and integrity, we will end up developing moral equivocation where matters of convenience and choice are involved. Voting is a moral choice as much as it is an economic choice. One cannot refuse to use the best choice available in five years to improve one’s circumstances and yet complain and groan when a bad decision is made. How many were prepared to vote for someone who did the right thing? How many people try to do the right thing every day and yet did the wrong thing with their vote? Morality is a herculean struggle in a country like Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell
