Dear Editor,
At my age and experience of understanding all the means that political/electoral losers will employ to retain power, it becomes more personally sickening to hear refrains about independence and sovereignty of our State.
Members, mouthpieces and surrogates with so much to lose keep shouting and writing: “We are an independent and sovereign nation, leave us to solve our own problems”/ “No interference or meddling in our internal affairs”/ “Guyana for Guyanese” and other related hypo-crisy. Can one set of Guyanese successfully claim their justifiable benefits from the incumbents when political bullyism and State resources – including the Joint Forces – are arrayed against them?
The PNC’s Dr Ptolemy Reid was profound in the simple statement he once delivered to the United Nations General Assembly: “We live in an Inter-Dependent World.” Independence is a constitutional convenience and status. Absolutely no country – including Britain, the USA or the richest Arab nation – is truly independent to exist “independent” of others. Diplomatic and or international solidarity and support against hostile situations or neighbours are constantly needed, welcomed, vital to “Independent” status.
Trade and inter-nation exchanges sustain all countries’ existence.
It is similar regarding “sovereignty”. That is supposed to be “paramount/dominant,” the supremacy and power to rule without external interference. All well and good and desirable when it doesn’t mean sovereign-like, imperial domination. Our Constitution screams the usual aspirational advisory: “Sovereignty belongs to the people (Article 9) who exercise it through their representatives and democratic organs…”
What a myth! Do elected reps and “organs” care about and consult the “sovereign people” after periodic elections? Especially power hungry, illegal representatives? Frankly speaking, to me Editor, sovereignty belongs to the government, the wealthy in the employer Private Sector and others who hold some form of dominion over us.
Guyana is supposed to be a member of international organisations – institutions with rules, principles and charters we pledged to abide by. Electoral observers are invited to monitor to ensure their aid and ongoing assistance is managed by democratically-elected governments. Elec-toral thieves who manufactured election malpractices must refrain from mouthing drivel about independence and sovereignty. They are survivalist hypocrites! Incidentally Editor in the history of Guyana since “independence” (1966) was Guyana ever so criticised, virtually ostracised by so many, ever?
Yours faithfully,
Allan Arthur Fenty