Perhaps because I came to federalism by way of my undergraduate study of US government in the 1960s, when state rights was the cry of every racist bigot in the Southern states of the USA, and in one form or another the federal government had to continuously intervene to protect the rights of African Americans, I do not have much faith in federalism’s capacity to play a positive role in the drive for sensible ethnic living in divided societies. This scepticism becomes even more intense when I begin to ponder the racial fractures that exist in Guyanese society.
Nevertheless, as we seek methods to facilitate a working stability that will allow all of our ethnic groups to feel at home in Guyana, among other useful suggestions, Mr. Ravi Dev, has for some time been recommending a federal solution, and two weeks ago, commenting on my discourse with the prime minister,