Dear Editor,
This is for my fellow compatriots, Brigadier David Granger, President; Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Leader of the Opposition; Raphael Trotman, Volda Lawrence, Chairman of PNCR; Dr. Roger Luncheon, Anil Nandlall, Amna Ally, General Secretary of PNCR.
Throughout mankind’s history, existing conditions offer to leaders and their people opportunities to take measures that can lead to goodness and grandeur. The alternative could lead to damnation and lack of advancement to things that they desire and are good for the people. I’ve been in the political hustings since 1952 and believe that this is an opportune time to comfort this generation and to bequeath to succeeding generations a country that is united and peaceful; where all our people can benefit from the bounty that beckons.
In the mid-fifties, our two national leaders (Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham) sought to create a new society as a result of the Waddington Constitution. They also sought to create a new Guyana man. This was during the height of the Cold War and a treacherous world did not believe that a country of less than a million people deserved to go beyond the boundary of new colonialism. Therefore we inherited two major political parties and a divided country. The rest is history.
The two main political parties (PNC and PPP) tinkered with the noble objective of unity. We saw the civic component, the reform and now the second Coalition in our modern political history. None of these have brought us nearer to the goal of our dream of One People, One Nation, One Destiny.
In order to vindicate the sacrifices and humiliation of our enslaved and indentured forbearers, let us be bold and sensible and give consideration to the following:
1) The immediate establishment of a National Front Government. Offer PNC 42% of the Cabinet, PPP 42% and by discussion the other credible groupings the other 16%. I suggest that the existing Presidency is retained and that the PPP have the Prime Minister’s slot with enhanced duties and responsibilities.
2) GECOM be given all the resources needed to immediately commence house to house registration and thereafter upon completion National Elections. It would be unacceptable to go into an Election now, with a list over which concern has been expressed by the PPP member of the Elections Commission and others. However, more importantly the use of the present list would exclude a large number of Guyanese, who would have become 18 (eligible to vote) since 2015. These young people represent our future and should be major stakeholders in National Elections.
3) Once the house to house registration is complete, we go straight into National Elections, my view is that all the parties who enter these elections are separate entities and that the party with the highest votes be given the Presidency and the next highest be given the Vice Presidency. We then constitute a National Front Government where the percentage gained is reflected in the cabinet and elsewhere. This will be a genuine coalition and allow us to overcome the disastrous and unworkable boogeyman of winner take all. Let us face the fact that previous political engineering did not work.
4) We must publicly announce and agree on a strict code of conduct for all functionaries, in the Judiciary, the Executive and Administration. This means we can no longer give a slap on the wrist to those who breach the code and are guilty of improprieties. We all have been guilty of this philosophy.
5) I suggest two bodies to help oversee and superintend this process. A youth council of five persons identified from the various geographic areas of Guyana. Our various religious groups can help. These young persons should all be under forty years of age and with no known political attachments, taking into account gender, profession and young people from the rank and file.
A council of elders should also be established with people who are 75 and older. It should also be based on merit and experience. This initiative will require the depth of our patriotism, courage and magnanimity, but I believe it is the best way forward. It best honours, our two founding political fathers, who did not grab and were not greedy.
I urge serious consideration of the above.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green