Dear Editor,
The recent decision by President Irfaan Ali to invite former presidents to a meeting to discuss matters related to national development must be seen as a masterstroke in his legacy and his commitment to democracy and inclusive governance. It is also a good way to break from the tradition of division and political spitefulness that has characterised our country and which is tearing it apart and hurting our development as a nation.
I am proud because the meeting will no doubt bring together some of the greatest minds that understand the challenges between how to balance what is really needed to get our country going along the right path to further development, and what is needed by the competing interests in society to make them cohesive and racially tolerant to each other when it matters the most. The meeting will also see for the first time our leaders coming together from both political establishments and putting our people above the fray of politics in our society. The meeting would be a signal of the great things that could be accomplished when we put our differences aside and talk about our common interests first.
It is my hope that former presidents David Granger, Donald Ramotar, Bharrat Jagdeo and Samuel Hinds join President Irfaan Ali for a frank discussion on the way forward for Guyana towards development especially in the age of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the concomitant challenges in the world now related to finance, global warming and the environment.
It is truly hoped that former president David Granger does not turn down the invitation as a sign of weaknesses. He must not give in to the constant political pressure from his party to refuse the invitation because they are still upset that they lost the March 2, 2020 elections and subsequent recount. Mr Granger has a chance to be a leader with a different political reputation and to stand for the country first. He should not allow politics to blind him from seeing the real cause of the meeting or to stop him from contributing to Guyana’s development. He must attend as a signal that he is really committed to talk about shared governance, inclusive governance and unity.
In the words of President Ali, “it will be an open-flow meeting where we bring together all the former
presidents. I think that it will be an opportunity for us to continue to share ideas, generate ideas to talk about how we see Guyana’s development from our different perspectives; and then to work out a model and a framework of how we engage in the future and how we have continuous contributions”.
After all, Ali had noted the PPP/C’s pledge to pursue inclusionary Constitutional Governance in its manifesto and emphasised his intention to see implementation.
“To do so will require certain constitutional reforms which will be formulated in consultation with the people. We will conduct a national conversation in which all ideas will contend, and all voices will be heard,” he had said then.
I cannot wait for December 15th when the meeting is billed to take place and we hear our leaders speak for the first time as one.
Yours faithfully,
Erin Northe
