Editorial

The so-called Westminster model of democracy has been an unmitigated disaster wherever it has been practiced in ethnically, or racially or religiously mixed societies.

Following the “Year of Elections” in 2006 and the rise of the populist left in Latin America, 2007 was a fascinating year for political pundits and all those interested in the region’s stability and growth.

Four years ago, the election returns from Iowa ended the presidential hopes of Senator John Kerry.

What is really going on in Camp Ayanganna nowadays? Is the Guyana Defence Force running some sort of military Gulag?

Would the Caribbean people be wrong if they indicated a feeling, as the year 2007 has come to an end, that all is not well with our regional foreign policy-making?

Public safety initiatives that had been incubating in 2006 during the tenure of Ms Gail Teixeira as minister of Home Affairs slowly metamorphosed into an insufferable incubus by the end of 2007.

The United States government has admitted to brokering Benazir Bhutto’s ill-fated return to Pakistan.

On December 10 last year, a year-long celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was launched by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour.

The year 2007 provided little cheer for Guyanese, although it did have two major high points in the form of World Cup Cricket and the decision of the International Convention on the Law of the Sea Tribunal.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and its Thirteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 13) held in Bali, Indonesia from the 3rd -14th December 2007, agreed on a Road Map which requires Parties to the Convention to take individual and collaborative action during a two-year negotiating process 2008-2009, which seeks to finalise a post – 2012 successor Protocol Kyoto, that is reflective of the need for urgency in addressing the several core issues.

The Guyana Defence Force high command last week suggested that there needed to be a “paradigm shift” in its approach to security and a “revolution” in its professional culture.

There are two pointed dilemmas posed to the Minister of Local Government, Mr Kellawan Lall and the government as a result of the infamous bar incident a month ago.

While the world was shocked by the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, it could hardly have come as a surprise to anyone.

Only the worst cynics in the world do not look forward to the New Year as a time when there will be change for the better.

With all the rather more urgent issues President Jagdeo had to deal with on his return from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), in Kampala, Uganda, last month, he might be forgiven for not briefing the nation on the wider official and informal discussions taking place there about the future composition and leadership of the Commonwealth.

Stealing seines and engines from fishing vessels is one thing. Slaughtering innocent fishermen is a totally different matter.

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree, Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes – Some have got broken – and carrying them up to the attic.

The declaration by the new Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary Best that there should be some closure in the investigation of the alleged torture of two Buxtonians by members of the Joint Services comes across as hollow.

The two Colombians and a Venezuelan who were held by the Guyana Police Force in connection with an airstrip near Orealla in Corentyne and other matters, were deported to their respective countries last week.

Christmas in the city is now synonymous with several things. Some are fairly recent traditions at this time of the year, like flooding.