Dear Editor,
I write with reference to Hon. Jermaine Figueira (MP) article published in the media (May 4, 2023). The piece makes a number of claims and propositions regarding “shared governance.” I should state, forthwith, that shared governance is not a well-intended mechanism for building good government in Guyana, but an ongoing ploy by the APNU-AFC to take power by any means. Mr. Figueira should know that political parties that have a long record of stealing elections cannot be trusted with any kind of shared arrangement. If they were as brazen in trying to steal the 2020 elections, why would the APNU and AFC suddenly stop being bullies in a shared governance arrangement? Bullying is part of their institutional culture.
Mr. Figueira entire case is built on the bogeyman called race. Instead of a well-grounded analysis based on the relevant political theories and empirics of the country, he descends into the customary grand rhetorical performance of dividing the world between the saved and the dammed. There are too many throw away lines like “the challenge now is how to ensure that the oil wealth is shared equally, equitably, fairly, and just (sic) among all Guyanese, regardless of race or political affiliation.” These are just glittering generalizations concocted for mass consumption. It offers no meaningful way of realizing these aspirational values. Mr. Figueira cannot imply that some groups based on racial identity are getting more, while others are getting less without providing at least a minimal empirical analysis of the extant condition that obtains in the oil economy.
It is deeply troubling that the Hon. MP would publicly urge the media to push ‘shared governance’. Is that the job of the media? Or should journalists be more focused on reporting the news. Incidentally, would Mr. Figueira and others think that critiquing this call for the media to push the agenda of the Opposition, an attack on journalists? Without a shred of disrespect for journalists, I do have to say that yes, journalists have been pushing shared governance for years. That should not be their business. MP Figueria needs to tell us which countries in the world have been enjoying the blessings of shared governance of the sort he envisages. And, may I ask why Republicans and Democrats in the US do not put their heads together and work out something in a country that is deeply divided along the lines of race and class. As an American citizen, I can tell you that many lay persons want the political elites in Washington to arrive at a constructive modus vivendi. Instead, we had an assault on the Capitol.
Cosmopolitan liberals (scholars, entertainers, philanthropists, and some from the political elites) love to recommend that people in the Third World to get along better. In this instance, there is a pre-analytic, cognitive disposition in assuming something primordially saccharine about people in developing countries. Shouldn’t the focus instead be on encouraging those interested to engage in vigorous debate? The American constitution with all its flaws and contradictions emerged out of lengthy debates. Why shouldn’t the same be expected of us, as a young nation? Why boil everything down to ‘shared governance’ which is basically based on the early colonial anthropology of backward peoples needing to get along. Mr. Figueira has done well to put some ideas in the public realm. Yet, he must stay away from the WPA’s mantra that some suffered more and, therefore, deserve more. ‘That dog duden’t hunt.’
Sincerely,
Dr. Randolph Persaud