Dear Editor,
These last few days identify three significant religious events, which should require their honouring and for that matter all Guyana to observe the stealthy, steady steps to a de facto dictatorship in Guyana.
On Monday, we celebrated the Hindu festival, Phagwah or Holi. It celebrates the eternal and divine love and signifies the triumph of good over evil
Christians are in the close of Lent and Muslims are in the midst of the Holy month of Ramadan and in different ways, they all point to the love of fellowmen, the dignity of humanity and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
When the Government took office in August 2023, there was a pious promise to set us on the path of goodness and the finer aspects of democracy and decency.
So the fit point is this Government and the State controlled media must end this charade of all these evils and wrongdoings before August 2020. We were appalled and disgusted by the response of Hon. Gail Teixeira at the United Nations Human Rights Meeting in dealing with the failure of our Government to point to a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice leaving the Judiciary without a stable and therefore confident Leadership.
The excuse by President Ali that we do have a Chancellor and Chief Justice is infantile. No matter how puerile and unconvincing, the hallmark of a democracy is a structure that sits on four pillars of support, 1. The Executive, 2. The Parlia-ment, 3. An independent, and I stress Independent Judiciary and the fourth estate, that is a free responsible and independent media.
In Guyana we see the Executive manipulating the major law enforcement agencies, the Guyana Police Force where it appears that postings, preference and appointments are all politically motivated. Others have given details of this troubling condition, safe to say Editor, in traditional Government and Opposition communities, there is a woeful lack of confidence in the majority of members of the GPF. This is a dangerous and distressing state of affairs. Thank God there are still a few professionally driven Police Officers and ordinary ranks.
When you have a Government rolling out the biggest budget ever but not one cent to acquire meters to check and verify the amount of oil being extracted, something is very, very wrong. Or is it stealthy, steady steps to a de facto dictatorship?
When you have a Government that ignores the constitutional requirement to consult with the Opposition, we are making stealthy, steady steps to a de facto dictatorship. When you have a Government that trivialises the important role of education by mistreating teachers and the Guyana Teachers’ Union, in circumstances where the children and the big ones are not affected because they can afford to pay their fees and transportation at private schools, you create stealthy, steady steps to dictatorship.
A dictatorship strives in an environment where the majority of a generation is poorly educated.
When blacklisted contractors and those who underperform are still allowed to bid for lucrative Government contracts, we are making stealthy, steady steps to a de facto dictatorship. We the people and the independent media must not give up and must not be guilty of the sin of silence.
Finally, over six months ago, the President was blaming the previous Government for the spate of blackouts, and promised that this would end before Christmas 2023. With an abundance of cash, we all believed in His Excellency, but as I dictate this letter at 3:50 pm in Lodge where I live, we’ve had a second power outage for the day.
There is no shortage of money these days but there seems to be a shortage of the will to do the right things. All the President has to do is appoint persons with the skill to manage the power company, but as long as the present culture of the Administration is to appoint persons whose pre-qualification must be loyalty to the PPP top brass, we will continue to have blackouts. In other words, the proclivity for square pegs in round holes persists. Stealthy, steady steps to a de facto dictatorship.
Concerned citizens of all sides of our political and social box must speak up, speak up and speak up and do not be guilty of the sin of silence.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
Elder