Underlying the political culture of all countries is the view that morality is different in private life and politics. But in dishevelled countries such as Guyana a crude form of this belief is widespread even among the populace. Some seek to justify the vilest political act with: “ha, it’s politics!”
We persistently hear that political leaders are not expected to give in without a fight and even the line between legal and moral requirements is here blurred. The major objectives of politicians are to come to power and to stay there by almost any means. Thus, there are those who say that Desmond Hoyte was a fool to cede power to the PPP/C in 1992 and that the PPP/C would be idiotic not to do all it can to keep itself in power today!
This view is reinforced by the almost universal nature of the language politicians use, even when speaking in quite different contexts. Thus, President Obama doing everything to stay a second term in the White House does not and cannot include manufacturing reasons not to perform constitutional functions.
In Guyana, the situation is different. For example, the constitution requires local government elections to be held now but,