Dear Editor,
The sentiments Mr. Lall expresses in his letter of April 13 entitled: ‘It is the voting population that should transform itself and demand the same of its leaders’, should resonate with persons of reason in the Guyana population as they do with me. I hear his deep frustration with the state of affairs: a country with enormous resources where most of the population continues to struggle in poverty; the obvious need for political and institutional transformation across the board, stymied by an extreme political polarization that gets in the way of constructive decision-making and social progress. The population that should be holding the political leaders to account has abdicated its responsibility and allows itself to be totally captive to impulses of leaders of one side or other like the “mindless mob” Mr. Lall describes. Mr. Lall’s April 13 letter extends the theme of frustration he expresses in his April 11 letter entitled: “Few care about the elements that made electoral victory worthwhile”. Reading his letters, one is reminded of Marc Antony’s anguished declaration, “O Judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason” [this statement may well be applied to the state of the world and not just Guyana at this time – but that’s another matter].
But I would urge Mr. Lall not to give in to despair. His speaking out is a sign of hope and he must not think that he stands alone. Indeed, his letters echo concerns I expressed in my recently published book entitled: Electoral System Reform for a Diverse Nation, The Case of Guyana, about the ill-effects of our political polarization and the “trauma of helplessness and resignation among the population about the chances of finding genuine long-term solutions.” My sense is that a growing proportion of the population shares his views, and even political leaders are voicing support for the need for electoral and constitutional reform to transform our politics and society. There are also the efforts of the Electoral Reform Group, of which I am a member, and other citizen-based initiatives in favour of reform. Indeed, my current work on electoral reform is largely underpinned by two major themes: (i) optimism about this growing consensus in favour of electoral reform, and (ii) the necessity for civil society to play a central role in the process. The immediate challenge is for the non-partisan forces of hope and reform to mobilize and work to sway the population toward constructive reform.
Sincerely,
Desmond Thomas, PhD
