Apart from some rudimentary commitments to rule better, from a political standpoint the PPP manifesto, Guyana Version 2.0, only promises more of the same and perhaps worse. As if attempting to blind-side us, the party spent a good proportion of its document reciting lofty economic intentions. Of course, it must have known that the impasse which brought us to these elections was not, per se, rooted in its economic and other desires but in the level of bad governance that is thought to surround them.
Furthermore, it is now well recognised that our governance difficulties are fundamentally rooted in constitutional arrangements that are unable to properly cope with existing conditions. At the macro level, the fundamental problem is that it was mistakenly written for the wrong audience.
It makes provisions to allow for it to be consistently reformed and as usual with constitutions, leaves the ultimate responsibility for seeing that this is done with the people. But, as these elections are demonstrating, Guyana is a land not of one but many peoples. This makes aggregating a critical mass of political support to gain the compliance of an errant political regime near impossible; matters not how much we lament and call upon the people to hold governments accountable!
Rather than addressing these fundamental concerns, the PPP is now seeking a mandate that will return us to the pre-2011 dictatorial parliamentary conditions! Let us hope that they are rebuffed, the country gains a respite from their suffocating ethno/political dominance and begins to transform itself into an inclusive modern state.
If for no other reason, the APNU+AFC and its manifesto “It is Time”, which makes a fundamental commitment to governance changes, hold a greater promise of a better tomorrow.
The APNU+AFC manifesto claims that “APNU+AFC recognises that the constitution in its present form does not serve the best interest of Guyana and its people. Within three months of its coming to office APNU+AFC will appoint a commission to amend the constitution with the full participation of the people. The new constitution will put the necessary checks and balances in place to consolidate our ethos of liberal democracy. Freedom of speech, reduction of the power of the President, the Bill of Rights, will be enshrined in the document.”
Quite apart from the above macro observation, from our problems with judicial appointments through rules that allow the president to willy-nilly expel representatives of the people from their hallowed chamber, the constitutional deficiencies at the micro level are many. If we are to minimise again making these kinds of errors, the central element of the above commitment must be “with the full participation of the people”.
I made a special effort to see what the parties were promising to do for the University of Guyana and saw that the PPP/C’s manifesto makes some strange claims and promises concerning the education system. I will here consider only three, which suggest that at least in this area, the PPP/C has become something of a used car salesman and that those in the opposition who are responsible for these matters are seriously wanting in their appreciation of and response to PPP propaganda.
But first allow me to advise my friends at the university to take the PPP\C’s commitment to make the university a world class institution seriously! Pay no mind to APNU+AFC’s less grandiose promise of trying to make it a good regional institution. The Times Higher Educational Supplement suggests that the PPP/C’s effort will fructify very soon! (The formula for a world-class university revealed. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/news.)
A university that is world class, i.e., ranked among the world’s top 200 universities: “Has a total annual income of US$751,139 per academic (compared with US$606,345 for a top 400 university); Has a student-to-staff ratio of 11.7:1 (compared with 12.5:1 for a top 400 university); Hires 20 per cent of its staff from abroad (compared with 18 per cent for a top 400 university); Has a total research income of US$229,109 per academic (compared with US$168,739 for a top 400 university); Publishes 43 per cent of all its research papers with at least one international co-author (compared with 42 per cent at a top 400 university); Has a student body made up of 19 per cent international students (compared with 16 per cent at a top 400 university).”
The PPP/C’s manifesto includes the claim that the president has been touting in and out of Guyana, namely that “We have attained Universal Primary Education”. It is as if this has only recently occurred and is essentially a PPP/C achievement. A 1994 Ministry of Education report under the heading “Universal Primary Education” claimed that in 1990 and 1993 net enrollment rates at the primary level were 96% and 98% respectively (Guyana: Mid-Decade Report towards education for All. November 1994).
The manifesto also commits the PPP/C to establish “a National Advisory Council on Education. The new Council will have the purpose of advising on matters relating to education. This council will be broad-based in its representation”.
A 1976 PNC amendment to the Education Act (originally enacted in 1877!) provides for a National Council for Education “to advise the Minister upon matters relating to nursery, elementary, secondary, or further education, and … at any time make recommendations to the Minister in respect of such matters”.
A 2006 Ministry of Education handout “Modernising the Education Sector” stated that: “Over the past year there have been nationwide consultations intended to facilitate the formulation of a new Education Act. The consultation process is being directed by the autonomous National Education Council which was established to advise the Minister of Education and present an annual national report.”
As at 30/11/2005 the Programme Situation Report for the internationally funded Basic Education Access & Management Support Programme reported that the Ministry of Education would introduce to cabinet and parliament a new Education Bill, which was then 25% completed with a deadline of January 2007.
Yet the 2015 PPP/C manifesto proudly proclaims: “Within this new term we shall repeal the Education Act, which is now more than a hundred years old and pass a new Education Act, the first whole Education Law since Guyana gained independence.”
What precisely are we to make of this apparent boast more than a decade after the process of drafting a new education law first began?
henryjeffrey@yahoo.com
