Dear Editor,
The circumstances under which the PPP/C finally acceded to office last Aug 2 do not need any reprisal. The challenge they faced then – and still face – is a political one. In this instance, through a narrative created by the PNC and other members of the Opposition that there was not a democratic change of government after the March 2 elections, but “regime change”, imposed by the western powers to oust the PNC/APNU coalition. There has been such a sustained harping on this theme to the Opposition’s support base – and it must be remembered that they have just a 3.3% gap between them and the PPP based on the recount figures – that even in the face of the blatant GECOM manipulations to favour the coalition, “regime change” has become a mantra for opposition supporters. They have followed their leadership’s decision to not officially “recognise” the PPP as the legitimate government and referred to as “the illegal cabal”.
This position is very subversive because it does not just question the legitimacy of the PPP government but the legitimacy of the democratic process itself. Legitimacy is present when people believe it is right and proper to accept and obey the authorities, and abide by the requirements of the political system. This is extremely unfortunate since our ethnicised politics has finally arrived at a point where no one group controls an absolute majority, encouraging each of the parties (if they are rational) to adopt accommodative programs and rhetoric to attract “outside” voters. Other plural societies have had to introduce mechanisms such as the Alternative Vote etc., to encourage moderation but ours was achieved through the shifting demographics occasioned via higher emigration rates by PPP ethnic base.
Since 2011, as was shown at the polls, Guyanese have healthily experienced the “politics of in and out” with alternating governments rather than the old “ethnic censuses”. While the two major parties still operate in a political field polarized by the two major ethnic groups, each now have an equal opportunity to form the government seeking votes from the Mixed and Amerindian segments. The African Security Dilemma is now resolved, but the PNC seems unwilling to be accommodative. Maybe they believe the mixed votes will maintain their traditional orientation towards them to create an inbuilt majority.
Legitimacy of the government, but more critically the legitimacy of the political system, is closely linked to trust by the electorate – crucial in transitioning democracies like ours. Political trust is the glue that holds the political system together, especially in ethnic societies. Sadly, the PNC is undermining this overarching value by impugning state institutions when challenging each of the government’s actions as being “racist and biased” against their supporters. These range from the School grants, Covid Relief, allocation of house lots and employment to police actions, Constitutional Commissions and judicial decisions. Working in African Guyanese communities is called “cultivating traitors”.
While democracies need critical citizens in and out of organized Oppositions to hold governments accountable, it can be counterproductive when the trust deficit extends to the political system. Political trust is present when citizens feel that their own interests would be attended to even if the authorities were exposed to little supervision or scrutiny. Based on what we saw recently in South Africa, where anger against corruption in the ANC saw PIO’s scapegoated and attacked, the PNC’s claims of corruption, cronyism and discrimination outside the institutions introduced to deal with such accusations, place further strains on our democratic transition. This is not the language of politics and presents a clear and present danger. It must be addressed.
Sincerely,
Ravi Dev
