‘My government has time and again expressed concerns over the investments made before the PPP/Civic took office. From various quarters came severe criticisms and accusations that my government is not in favour of foreign investments. I want to repeat that our developing economy needs more investments to come. I also want to repeat that when the investors come, we will ensure that they respect our people, our laws and our environment’ (Cheddi Jagan, 1994).
As I have pointed out before, in about 1994, well before the passing of the Trade Union Recognition Act, when there were signs that the management of Omai Gold Mine might have been having qualms about trade union recognition, Cheddi Jagan, on a trip to its interior site, made it quite clear to a general meeting of the management and workers that trade recognition was non-negotiable (SN: 27/09/2017). That we have retrogressed from this firm position is without doubt, for a decade since the present dispute between the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union and the Bauxite Company of Guyana (a local subsidiary of the Russian company, RUSAL) began, it remains unresolved.
Indeed, now that elections are to be held, the government is busying itself with RUSAL, the establishment of the long-promised TV station at Linden, etc. At the 2006 national elections, the people of Region 10 demonstrated their capacity to punish the PNCR, and the present regime, now under all manner of other pressure (even the United States government, without giving much comfort to the PPP/C, reminding it that much of its value resides in its democratic credentials), has been forced into action!
The reason that both the PPP/C and the APNU+AFC governments believed that they could treat the bauxite workers with such disdain is obvious. It is because the PPP/C did not expect them to vote for it in any large numbers and the APNU+AFC government knows that it matters very little what it does to those of African ethnicity as they will vote in large numbers for the coalition government because they are now more afraid of a return of the PPP/C and ethnic Indian domination. This column has repeatedly argued that this problem could only be comprehensively overcome by a consensual form of national governance and has also given an indication of the structure of this new form of governance (SN:13/01/2019).
However, an aspect of constitutional reform that is widely supported but not necessarily linked to the formation of a consensual democratic system is the demand for the establishment of constituency representation that is directly responsible to the local population. It is thought that the present system in which centralised, oligarchic parties determine who are on the party list, who goes to parliament, who could cross the floor, and – the way things are now proceeding – how representatives will be able to vote, is unacceptable. Direct constituency representation will make more space for the uniqueness of each locality and provide voters with individual easily identifiable representatives whose survival will depend upon a capacity to provide the expected services. Indeed, a system that is designed to encourage independent, non-party candidates and has a recall mechanism, will give individual constituencies even more scope to determine their own future.
The 2016 and 2018 local government elections in the Beterverwagting Neighbourhood Democratic Council (BV NDC) suggest that even under the present national governance framework, the mere existence of direct constituency representation will make localities such as Region 10 far more self-governing; thus enabling them to force national governments that they supported to take them seriously.
The BV NDC is overwhelmingly populated by those of African ethnicity. At the local government elections of 2016, a small local African and largely PNCR-orientated groups called the 8th of May Movement (8MM) took 13 of the 18 available seats, with the PPP taking the remaining 5. At the heart of the rise of this community group was the villagers’ dissatisfaction, and APNU recognising the strength of this group deliberately stood aside.
At the time, I wrote that the ‘situation is indicative of both the existence and non-existence of the so-called ethnic security dilemma. The PPP’s electioneering for the 2015 national elections, its loss of government and the general political atmosphere since those elections have heightened ethnic fear among Indians. On the other hand, the coming to government of a coalition led by the PNCR has reduced that fear among Africans, and this, coupled with a context in which supporting the PNCR or 8MM presented no risk of Indian ethnic dominance is indicative of the willingness of citizens to migrate from the traditional parties when ethnic voting has little or no value. It is also suggestive of how we should seek to organise our constituencies in future electoral reform’ (SN: 18/05/2016).
The bauxite workers are located mainly in Region 10 with a voting population of some 20,000 persons (about 3 seats in the National Assembly). It is also dominated by those of African ethnicity, who have historically voted overwhelmingly for the PNCR (84% at the 2015 elections). This suggests that, similar to what happened in BV, even in the context of national ethnic insecurities and fears, because Africans dominate there will be little insecurity at the local level and had there been direct representative constituencies , the opportunity would have existed for the locality to place much greater pressure on the national party to solve local issues.
Of course, given the dominant ethnic African nature of the constituency it is difficult to see how any representative could be successful if s/he sought to threaten ethnic power at the national level or vote against ethnic power unless the issue was a threat to the majority of the local constituency. In the case of Region 10, what this would mean is that rather than the party solely directing what is taking place, the local people would have a much greater say in determining their own existence and to a significant extent, how the party behaves at both the regional and national levels.
Generally direct constituency representation allow for greater local autonomy and in the specific context of Region 10 by now, the problem between the bauxite workers and the company, the issue of the TV station, the need for a special development policy directed to Region 10, etc. would have long been solved.
