Dear Editor,
Our forebears fought against enslavement and indentureship when there was no United Nations (UN) to declare human rights. In 1905 Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow led dock workers in demanding their right to participate in decision-making affecting their wellbeing, when there was no International Labour Organisation (1919) or Trade Union Ordinance (law). In 1926 Critchlow and other Caribbean labour leaders met in Georgetown and charted a course for the advancement of regional workers/citizens before the world saw the need for a UN (1948). The 1926 group committed their struggle to one man one vote, universal education and health care, internal self-government, housing and trade unionism, among others.
When in December 1926, at the request of the British Guiana East Indian Association, Critchlow met the leaders and lent support to that constituency’s desire for one man one vote, the colonial authority had already placed a wedge between Africans and Indians. When Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham, Peter D’Aguiar, Jane Phillips-Gay and others advanced the struggle against colonial domination there was no constitution that enshrined this fight. Throughout history we have been guided by our innate desire for freedom, equality and dignity that realised the struggles against enslavement, indentureship and colonisation. These resulted in the achievements of independence, republican status and severing the yoke of political bondage.
The point I am trying to get over here, is, when there was no constitution, law, international declarations, conventions or charter, we, the people fought for our rights. We fought to achieve what later the UN Human Rights Declarations, Article 1 acknowledges is: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” We fought with all our might and with all we had.
Having come this far, there is no reason in 2014 we cannot make a constitution that saw inputs from the WPA, PPP, PNC, trade unions, civil society and citizens, work. When there was no document guiding us, we got up, fought and achieved. Now that there exists one that provides the foundation for our actions, to turn around and embrace the sense of powerlessness or rejection for this instrument that were we to follow to the letter would safeguard our rights, empower us and allow for the creation of a harmonious environment, would be to ratify the status quo.
The autonomy of our local democratic organs is protected in Article 75. Legislative actions can assure protection for Article 75 and ensure the people’s management and development of their community’s political, economic, cultural and social life as outlined in Article 74. This constitution requires that local government elections (LGE) be held every three years. The last were held in 1994. For almost two decades this component of self-government is being denied by a clique claiming omnipotent power. They said the political environment is not conducive for them; we are not ready for or interested in having our right respected.
When Kwakwani in 2013 rejected the Interim Management Committee and elected their representatives, they were giving effect to what the constitution guarantees us. Those residents, like their forebears, engaged in rebellion to secure what’s justly theirs. They sent a message to society that no government will deny them what the constitution has assured them. Had this civil disobedience received national political support and spread throughout the land as happened in history, this government would have come to its senses that their role is not that of oppressor, but to administer the day-to-day business of the state, consistent with the constitution and laws, passed by the legislature and adjudicated by the judiciary. It is the role of the people to ensure they operate accordingly.
Our system of governance makes the government answerable to the people. We must therefore guard against the notion that the people are beholden to the government and ought to be afraid to confront them. When there is failure to hold government/elected officials accountable, the arrogant and corrupt in our midst will continue to run roughshod over the masses and plunder our resources. Nowhere in the constitution is what is taking place today enshrined or permitted. I am concerned about a conditioning that has created inertia which is allowing the recklessness of a few to operate to the detriment of the masses.
The PNC government and the National Assembly did not legislate a specific date or day for LGE. The PPP followed suit. Their shortcoming should not prevent the opposition-led Assembly from pursuing such action. Strengthening our local government system in this manner will insulate Gecom from the political arrogance that is holding this nation hostage. It would also rally the people behind their representatives’ effort to protect their constitutional right to self-determination.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis