Dear Editor,
Moving around Guyana over the last several days to conduct a NACTA opinion poll on the current political situation, I have found few voters taking on the politicians of the three parliamentary parties. My interviewers also reported a virtual lack of interest by the population in politics and politicians. The population is fed up with them. People are getting on with their lives and minding their business virtually unconcerned with what is taking place among the politicians. They note how the politicians of all three parties have let them down.
The people are frustrated by the actions of the political leaders viewing them as little spoilt children who are not willing to collaborate in the interest of the nation because they can’t get their way. Come next election, political parties which are viewed as the biggest obstacles to progress (addressing the parliament’s business) will be severely punished. People want solutions to their problems, not political vengeance that leads to deadlock. They want the country to progress and don’t want politicians to engage in acts that would stymie development.
The parties should find a way to end the current political impasse and recall parliament as less than a majority are in favour of ending the life of the legislature and going back to the polls now. The leaders should try to find a solution to the crisis before forcing another election that may produce the same result.
Compromise, not stubbornness among the political leaders is the way forward. The leaders have to rise to the challenge of the situation in which none of the three parties can get its way without some kind of compromise. They must end their arrogance and listen to the people who elected them.
The opposition should not demand its way to end the life of the parliament (their way or the highway) and the incumbent party should not dismiss all the demands and suggestions of the opposition. People want the parties to engage in dialogue and reach a consensus on the political deadlock.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
