Dear Editor,
The sad state of politics in Guyana has its origins deeply rooted in the design and structure of the two major political parties. Essentially elections are a referendum on which race through its proxy (one of these two parties) should govern the country. Here is how the process works. To become president of Guyana, and by extension leader of the country, one must first be ‘selected’ (hand picked) not elected as the leader of one of these two parties. This selection is made by a very small group from within the party or perhaps even by the maximum leader himself. There are usually no surprises; for the most part everyone knows who is next in line and who is now due the honour. The selection criteria are usually an individual’s rank and relationship in the party combined with years of service to the party. There seems to be very little concern for competence, ability to lead, or electability.
Once the selection is made, the internal party votes are then manipulated in order to create the appearance of democracy. The corollary to this is that the pool from which the leadership is drawn is alarmingly limited to a select few; accordingly, some of the best and brightest minds of Guyana both at home and abroad are excluded from consideration because they are not ‘party-lifers,’ or ‘insiders.’ This entire process is deeply flawed, and it undermines any potential for the country to elect serious and competent leadership. A further casuality of this process is there are no new or fresh ideas, and no new players in the game. Instead what we have is a recycling of old ideas by some of the same individuals who have been around forever, and who have helped to create the problems in the first place. Is anyone surprised then by the level of voter apathy particularly among young people in Guyana today? We have made a mockery of the democratic process and we have indeed paid a very high price. Here is what has resulted thus far during the last 50 years:
Throughout this time we have witnessed the tragic irony of life imitating art, where the two major parties have offered up a frightening parallel to George Orwell’s now famous novels. For 28 years we’ve had a re-enactment of Nineteen Eighty-four, with big brother watching every move, and for 22 years we’ve had a replay of Animal Farm. Remember the good intentions of Animal Farm? Old Major had a dream, Old Major died; Napoleon squandered his dream with help from Squealer, as the farm’s mouth piece. Snowball who tries to keep old Major’s dream alive finds himself in a protracted argument, which results in his exile and subsequent banishment from Animal Farm. This has been the outcome of our selection process from inception to date.
Yours faithfully,
Floyd N Haynes
