Dear Editor,
Your editorial (Sunday, October 30, 2016) captioned ‘Cabinet and army HQ’ raises some important questions regarding the current state of governance in Guyana.
As you rightly observed in your editorial, the decision to hold Cabinet meetings at the Army Headquarters has understandably generated much anxiety among the populace especially in light of our past political history.
I cannot agree more with the position taken in your editorial that there is already a widely held perception regarding the role former military officers seem to be playing in government.
And, as if that were not enough, there is the recent public announcement that Cabinet Ministers would be meeting with members of the public on designated dates not at their respective Ministries but at Congress Place which again is suggestive of a fair measure of insensitivity on the part of the administration towards the public.
I have no difficulty with Ministers conducting meetings at Congress Place with Party members and supporters but to invite the public at large to meet on designated dates with Ministers at Congress Place is not only incongruent with the established norms of political neutrality but smacks of a fair measure of party paramountcy which was one of the hallmarks of the previous PNC regime.
One is left to wonder whether these are manifestations of a return to Burnhamism as articulated by President Granger during his address to the recently concluded PNC Congress.
Is the AFC, the junior coalition partner comfortable with the postures taken? The public would welcome the AFC stance on these developments.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
