PAUL Simpson, a British business journalist, writing in a recent publication of the professional Human Resource Management institution, the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) asks this question (Can this election fix it?) of the British public whose General Elections this week virtually coincides with ours here in Guyana. I believe it is not only a good question for us Guyanese to ask but for us to also ponder, as Simpson advises, a slight re-working of JFK’s famous phrase:“Ask not what the Parties can do for our country, but what kind of country do we want”
General Elections result in many faces changing but often with little substantive change; old, long-standing issues remain unresolved leading to increasing cynicism among the electorate about election promises which proliferate with each passing election. But it appears that election promises are a sine qua non. Professor of political thought at Cambridge University, David Runciman, put it this way: “You cannot get elected without promising you will do something”.
Getting the ‘something’ done requires leadership, the kind of leadership which Timothy Bale, professor of politics at my alma mater, Queen Mary University, London says requires “tempering zeal with pragmatism, and vice versa.”
Professor Bale adds that some leaders have more of one than the other! There can be no doubt that a good dose of personal conviction together with ‘political will’ are also necessary ingredients, but as Paul Simpson adds: “We seem to have regressed from an age of ‘conviction politicians’ to one where “politicians are convicted”.
As a committed Human Resource Management disciple, one promise I would have liked to see underscored is the need for improved productivity in Guyana in order to enable the natural expectations for improved compensation and related benefits; but I suppose that is the kind of medicine from which most politicians selfishly shy away.
I take this opportunity to express my hope and wish for a peaceful election process and may the deserving party win; obviously only one party can win but that party can resolve to work with others to deliver on promises made.
NOWRANG PERSAUD
