Dear Editor,
As I reflect on the current political impasse in Guyana, two statements come to mind. The first is the popular Guyanese Creolese saying, ‘When boat gaan a falls, it cyaan’t turn back,’ and the other is the statement of then colonial Governor of British Guiana, Sir Richard Luyt, who in referring to the deaths and destruction of the early 1960s said “What is done cannot be undone.”
Guyanese now face the situation where the legislature has been prorogued by the President in order to prevent his government from being voted out of office by a no-confidence motion (NCM). As the matter stands, Guyanese are likely to go to the polls in the near future, either as a result of the revival of the NCM by the opposition parties if the legislature is recalled, or by way of dissolution by the President following the prorogation. The question is how will an election bring about the change that is needed to ensure that each Guyanese feels that his/her vote matters, and that he/she has a say (through her/his elected representative) in the governing of the country.
I believe none of three parties in the legislature really wanted an election, and they blundered into this untenable situation, which could lead to an election, through the obstinacy of the government and by gamesmanship, posturing and miscalculation by all the parties. I believe too that the majority of Guyanese are fed up with the constant bickering of their politicians and their failure to address the many pressing problems of the country. They see individuals using politics as a way of gaining power, control and personal enrichment, rather than working for the general good of the population. If an election is called, each party is likely to continue to posture in public and give the impression it is confident of victory. Yet, in an election at this time, no one can be certain of the outcome and none of the parties is likely to gain an overall majority, thus leading to more stalemate.
Perhaps the time has come for an interim government of representatives of all three parties to chart the course of the future leading up to the next election and beyond. In this regard, a way forward may be found through the initiative of the Speaker, Mr Raphael Trotman, who has written the Commonwealth Secretary General to seek his help in mediating a settlement. Current leaders of the PPP and the PNC may wish to remind themselves that their respective founding leaders, Dr Cheddi Jagan and Mr LFS Burnham, when in government and faced with the possibility of defeat, was each open to the idea of shared government. Hopefully the present impasse may finally impel the current leaders to do what their predecessors failed to do.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Hergash