Dear Editor,
Tomorrow, Tuesday October 6th, 2020 marks the 40th Anniversary since the imposition of the 1980 Constitution under the Government of the late President Linden Forbes Burnham.
Although the PPP, then in opposition condemned the 1980 Constitution, today, after 28 years and $2 Billion was spent on “Constitutional Reform” under both the PPP/C and the APNU+AFC Governments there has been no fundamental changes including containing the enormous powers of the Executive President or Electoral Reform to do away with the winner takes all, a process so flawed which results in the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of the electorate ushered in as what has been accepted as “Free and Fair Elections”, the rule of one party/one race over an entire Nation.
The political standoff in the aftermath of the No-Confidence Motion of December 21st 2018, the March 2nd 2020 Elections and the gruesome murders of the three teenagers at Cotton Tree, WCB which resulted in an explosive situation that rocked the entire country has proven how extremely delicate and sensitive race relations in Guyana are.
What transpired after September 6th inevitably was the climax of an Elections Campaign founded on race and the attempted hijack of the March 2nd General Elections. As Guyanese we cannot stand by with our hands folded, we are all in this together.
As an artist, I believe that art can play a part in the transformation of Guyanese Society, in enhancing the development and eliminating the contaminating effects of racial animosity. It is our culture and comprehensive understanding of the social forces that shape our history that makes it possible for Guyanese to come together in the process of nation building. It is the lack of understanding that the post-colonial politicians have used to divide and rule over us all.
This painting titled “Anatomy of a Dictatorship” commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the fraudulent 1980 Constitution. It bears the essential features of Guyana’s political landscape.
Yours faithfully,
Desmond Alli
