A lot of talk about unity is being thrown around, although there is little evidence of that on the ground. In the first place, the nation has just emerged from a bruising and divisive campaign, the worst aspects of which have to be laid at the door of the PPP; and in the second, there is no evidence that that party intends at this stage to transform itself into a responsible opposition, and educate its supporters to accept the results. Quite the contrary in fact. It is traversing the country telling its constituents and anyone else who will listen that the poll was rigged by the coalition and Gecom, although it has submitted no evidence in support of this.
Even without that, the country is clearly deeply divided, and if nothing else, the election outcome reveals that the political-ethnic nexus has not been severed. For all the euphoria at the National Stadium on Tuesday, therefore, nearly half the body politic would have been in a state of gloom to some degree or another. As such, they will look on the current government with some degree of suspicion, and given the message that Freedom House has been disseminating around its constituency, perhaps trepidation in some cases as well.
As far as the PPP itself is concerned, therefore, it seems unlikely that the government will be able to secure much cooperation from it, at least in the short term. One of the areas in which such collaboration would be critical, for instance, would be constitutional reform, although that is something which would in any case take a considerable time, and there is always hope that further down the road the opposition would be prepared to make some serious input into the process.
In the meantime, the coalition will probably have to accept that unity is just an empty word. What they should be striving for instead, perhaps, is fairness, integrity, consultation where possible, and greater governmental competence. A fairness of approach alone will go a considerable way to allaying feelings of mistrust among those who did not vote for APNU+AFC.
Above all else there is devolution at the local level, so local authorities are able to function in their own sphere without direct interference from central government. The first step towards this is naturally local government elections under the reformed legislation which was passed by the last Parliament (one bill was not signed by then President Ramotar, but that could now be brought back to the National Assembly for passage and signing by the new President).
In addition, of course, President David Granger has to be particularly careful about what he says and does; it is all very well to talk about being a President for all the people, but in the end he will be judged primarily by what he does, and also what he says in other contexts. His 1964 reference during the Independence Arch ceremony on Tuesday, for example, was ill advised, and would have caused difficulty for his AFC colleagues, never mind opposition supporters. Such views which on the kindest interpretation are eccentric, and on the worst, perverse, should not find political public expression, more particularly since they have the potential to undermine alliances and trust.
Similarly, the Head of State has opened himself to charges that his list of national awardees is unnecessarily politically partisan in character. This certainly does not apply to every name on the list; many of those to be invested with national honours are very deserving indeed. However, some names stand out as being primarily political in character, and this gives room for those not sympathetic to the government to claim that the President’s words and deeds are not in alignment. Having said that, however, he will probably be indulged on this first occasion, but next year the list will be subject to more critical scrutiny.
The new ministers who have just come into office are not for the most part experienced in government, and will undoubtedly take some time to find their feet – as indeed their predecessors had to do. It is inevitable, therefore, that mistakes will be made, and given that the previous administration never conveyed any sense that it was really efficient, the newcomers might encounter even more impediments than might otherwise have been the case. Most of all, of course, it has to be recognized that there is a human resources crisis in this country, and the most competent minister in the world cannot run a ministry on his own. Paying public servants a decent wage is one thing, but finding enough skills to keep the civil service running in the way that it should is another matter entirely.
We have been promised integrity, and the setting up of the long delayed Public Procurement Commission. That would be a huge service to the country. There is also to be an investigative commission on corruption, it seems. It is not that there is anything wrong with that, but nothing has been said so far about the Audit Office, which is the first gateway against corruption where the public accounts are concerned. That was an office which was emasculated by the PPP/C government, and it really needs to be expanded and staffed in a way which would allow it to function as it should. An investigative commission will look into corruption which has already taken place, but the Audit Office is an institutional safeguard against misfeasance and the like on an ongoing basis.
The coalition has set themselves a formidable ‘to do’ list for their first 100 days, and the people will want to hold them to it. Whether it is possible for everything on that list to be accomplished is perhaps debatable. The undertakings of a financial character, in particular, will have to await the presentation of a budget, no doubt, and in circumstances where the new Minister of Finance is not even certain how much money is in the kitty, so to speak, that may take longer to put together than was at first thought.
Setting up passport and birth certificate offices in the two other counties as well as Linden, may also take longer than estimated, while the catastrophe which is the sugar industry may absorb most of the Minister of Agriculture’s time, making it more difficult to meet the time frame for the promises to the rice industry.
One thing that can be said – it happened in 1992, for instance – and that is that ministers in a completely new administration start out with energy and enthusiasm, as can be seen already with appointees such as the Minister of Health. After the years of inertia in not a few ministries, a certain vitality in government does not come amiss.
