Dear Editor,
It is with much angst about the future of Guyana that I call attention to the rapid erosion of democratic rights in the country. Motorized police following the vehicle of the Opposition Leader upon the express instructions of superiors is a blatant example of the worrying descent into a dictatorship. So is the recent warning that Guyanese in the diaspora who sharply criticize his government will be put on a watch list. Such a categorization can and will silence the voices of Guyanese abroad who disagree with the government.
It may well result in infringements on their personal freedom or their lives when they return to their country of birth. For a government which says it values its diaspora, this warning is a serious impediment to Guyanese who may wish to contribute their skills and financial resources to the country’s development but are accustomed to operating in political environments that encourage criticism even if disagreeable.
A few weeks ago, the police photographed, openly, participants in a recent picketing in Georgetown against the government. Again, the official intent was clear and ominous: exercise your democratic rights at the pain of official penalty or sanction. The unexplained deaths of the Henry boys, the brutal killing of businessman Orin Boston, and the execution of Quindon Bacchus cannot be separated from the official canopy over the sure degeneration to an undemocratic society.
Former government functionaries have not escaped the reach of official wrongdoing. Former Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, was arrested for alleged financial impropriety. Several PNC-R executives were also arrested for various crimes including those related to the 2020 general and local elections for which both sides traded claims of electoral fraud. Inexplicably only one side’s grievances have met the standard for vindication in the criminal courts. While the present government is using its plentiful oil revenues to feather its electoral nest, it is systematically trampling on the rights of the main opposition party, the PNC-R, to represent its thousands of supporters who gave the party as a part of the coalition (APNU/AFC) nearly 48% of the votes cast.
On the parliamentary side the government using its one seat majority has changed the quorum requirement of the vital Public Accounts Committee making it difficult for that body to meet and review the expenditures of government agencies. Consistent with the same dictatorial design is its failure to appoint the Public Procurement Commission even though the members proposed by both the government and the opposition have gained more than several months ago, the constitutionally required two thirds approval of the National Assembly
Given the incessant cries of politicians, civil society, and ordinary citizens that the awarding of government contracts is riddled with nepotism, cronyism, and theft, there can be no reasonable explanation for the non-appointment of this essential entity. Understandably the simmering frustrations of racial and political discrimination felt by many are being stoked by the administration’s overt and indefensible neglect of this critical constitutional entity.
We all make a mockery of democratic governance when we stand mute in face of unjustified and reprehensible attacks on its foundational principles as freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of assembly. If Guyana is seeking to build a unified nation informed by equity and justice for all its peoples, the increasing disregard by the government for guaranteed constitutional rights will doom that highly desirable objective.
Sincerely,
Derrick Arjune
