Dear Editor,
Each day as I check the newspapers I become more and more frustrated and depressed about the future of our country from what I deem to be extremist expressions in the letters and columns published.
I ask myself what positive result can come out of all this negativity directed at mostly the government of our country and, by implication, the people who voted them into power in free and fair elections. The fact is that most times these voluminous outpourings contain not a shred of evidence to support their contentions, and I feel that editors and publishers have a moral as well as professional duty to demand such when publishing.
Would it not be more constructive if these writers would deal with some specific issue and show what has gone wrong, possibly who has committed the breach of whatever kind, and what may be done to redress the problem? ‘If you know better, why not do better?’
Otherwise we can only surmise that they are grinding some axe or pursuing some devious agenda.
Another aspect of all this disparagement is the negative image of our country and its people projected to outsiders as well as the diaspora, fostering the perception that Guyanese as a nation cannot take care of their own affairs.
On a broader front, is it not an inbuilt proviso of the democratic system of governance that the government that has been fairly elected should be allowed to govern for the duration of its term with the help of a group acting as a watchdog and providing constructive criticism when they observe any breaches of protocol and justice?
I contend that the fact that the constitution has designated the group not in office, the “Opposition” must surely encourage them to accept that their duty is just to oppose.
Yours faithfully,
Roy Paul
