The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) is urging civic and religious organisations to recommit to a continuous process of rehabilitating civic life based on values-driven solutions and more systematic engagement that would generate the leadership needed in the current political crisis.
The group said the recent meeting with selected civil society organisations held at the Office of the President to discuss the political crisis failed because there is no substitute for Parliament. “The meeting failed to arrive at any conclusion” because “the meeting took place in the wrong place with the wrong people,” the GHRA said in a press release. “There is no substitute for the government speaking to the elected representatives of the people in Parliament, rather than random groupings of the people themselves.”
Further, the GHRA opined, “That the meeting occurred in the OP aptly symbolizes reversal of the constitutional reform process that devolved presidential powers to Parliament.” The meeting also failed to convey any clear message to the president, and prompted questions about the lack of coherent and sustained involvement of civil society as a sector in political life in general.
“As a sector, our routine silence in everyday politics, for example, over short-comings in the health and education services, abuse of the media licensing process and other social and economic issues, has left us ill-prepared to comment constructively on a political crisis,” the group said.
According to the GHRA, while pent-up frustration over the disreputable state of local politics repels both the average citizen and civic bodies from political engagement, evasion is not a constructive option. Nor is the fact that loyalty to party leaders has supplanted political accountability to electors.
Together, these factors have served to distance citizens from politics, robbing them of opportunities to transform undemocratic politics and infuse the political culture with democratic values and practices.
The focus of civic and religious activism in political life on a daily basis should be to promote principles such as non-discrimination, equality and accountability to redress the unprincipled use of power at all levels that gives rise to abuse, exploitation and exclusion. Currently, the impact of guiding principles and values on life in Guyana – whether political, economic, social or environmental – is woefully inadequate. Material wealth is the dominant value, widening the gap between rich and poor, thereby undermining the solidarity that democratic citizenship requires.
Against this background, apathetic civic and religious organisations need to recommit to a continuous process of reinvigorating civic life based on values-driven solutions.
More systematic engagement is also necessary to help to generate the leadership and advocacy skills required in times of crisis.
The GHRA further contends that civil society playing a continuous role will lay the groundwork for addressing the serious constitutional and political reforms required for long-term stability.
