MY TURN | STALK AND TALK

FORMER American President, Jimmy Carter, is best remembered by Guyanese for his critical role in the return of electoral democracy, for which a grateful nation bestowed upon him the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH). At 92, he is, once again, taking initiatives to strengthen the fabric of Guyana’s democracy by encouraging dialogue between the Government and the parliamentary Opposition.

President Carter must have sensed that all was not well in Guyana since there has been acute polarization between Government and the Opposition; the latter under apparent siege over prosecution of former state officials for alleged corrupt practices, and rising fears that the bigger fishes could be caught in the reinforced dragnet of the justice system.
In anticipation that its leadership could be decimated by sleaze-related prosecution, the Opposition has embarked on a campaign to stalk the government, raising such spurious charges about “ethnic cleansing” and suppression of basic civil rights. In the face of mounting optimism over an impending economic boom, the Opposition has been chanting a mantra about an imminent collapse of the economy and the financial system. To compound the devil’s concoction of gloom-and-doom, the Opposition has contemplated a change in the traditional forms of struggle, which could raise the spectre of violence in a country that sits uncomfortably on an ethnically divided social base.

BI-PARTISAN COOPERATION
The Carter Centre which has been trying to kick-start constitutional reform could have sensed that no tangible outcomes would be possible if there is no bi-partisan cooperation and a buy-in for the process from the Opposition, since fundamental changes would require the support of a two-thirds majority of elected Members of Parliament.
Though the situation is not as bad as the Opposition wants it to be, or even close to its dismal depiction, the intervention of President Carter is important, since it could smooth over any conflicts before the proverbial first shot is fired.

Guyana surely needs a fresh wave of political renewal that only visionary leadership could provide. Guyana cannot be stuck forever in the debilitating pastime of opposition for opposition’s sake and the outpourings of an overdose of pessimism and negativity. This is why the Opposition has to come to the table to trash out real issues that could help to place us on the solid road towards national unity.

NATIONAL UNITY
For me, national unity remains the sweetest two words on the lips of every patriot. I remember being asked in 2009 by Guyanese journalists, Enrico Woolford and Gordon Mosley, about my take on the legacy of Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan. I told them that if we have a mandate from the Jagans, it would be “to unify this country, to bring not only stability, but to bring peace”.

In my autobiographical book, Fragments from Memory, I recounted that aspect of the interview when I qualified ‘unity’ as a state of national democracy, and added:
“That is a multi-racial, a multi-party and a multi-class State. In other words, you must have inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness at the governance level, the fullest bipartisan cooperation between the major political parties, because that is how we will bring about unity between the major races”

If there is anything that is known about my political life, it is my unflinching advocacy and struggles for national unity. Whilst, at different stages of those struggles, I had fought for broad-based unity, I consistently canvassed formal talks between the leadership of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC).

PILLARS OF NATIONAL UNITY
I have also played a role in the work of two major pillars of national unity – the short-lived Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) and the six-party A Partnership of National Unity and the Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition and government. The greatest gain in contemporary Guyanese political history was the election in 2015 of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government which, for me, was partial fulfillment of what Cheddi Jagan had wished when he advocated a “return to 1953 when there was racial and working class unity”.

The records would show that even when I had major disagreements with what I had described as the “Stalinist Gang”, I would stoutly and consistently insist that the goals of national unity should be captured in the party’s political programme.
In 1997, during post-elections civil disturbances, I told party leaders that while the presidency of Janet Jagan was non-negotiable, everything else should be up for talks between the PPP and the PNC. I had not ruled out the possibility of an inclusive government. But after calm returned to the streets, the anti-talks gangs dumped my speech which was reproduced in a booklet titled “Towards a Political solution – The Way Forward”. The failure to hold inter-party dialogue resulted in two years being sliced from the presidency of Janet Jagan.

OLIVE BRANCH
When I became Prime Minister in 2015, I immediately extended an ‘Olive Branch’ to the Opposition for bipartisan talks and cooperation. The potential Opposition talkers instead became my perennial stalkers. I have been called all manner of names and reduced to all types of creepy animals by former Presidents Ramotar and Jagdeo. The PPP leaders have branded me as their nemesis, the arch-enemy who has engineered their downfall and possible political destruction. Worse, the attacks are racist as they see me as a “neemakaram”, a Hindi pejorative term that literally means “traitor”, for selling out to an African-dominated coalition.
But this is the brutal nature of politics, to which I have grown accustomed. I can also relate to the feelings of low esteem by Jagdeo to sit at the same table with me as I had lived in a period of pain when, after he had left the PPP, Ranji Chandisingh was named to lead the PNC delegation for unity talks with the PPP. That was for the “No Talks” clique the unkindest cut of all.

Notwithstanding the personal vendetta, I have maintained that political engagement is good for Guyana, and I have had one-on-one sincere discussions with several persons in the PPP’s leadership. I had told them that as we draw closer to becoming a major oil and gas economy, bipartisan cooperation is strategically important to ensure that no section of the population is alienated from equitable access to proceeds from our petroleum resources. I told them that for a major political party to stay away from bi-partisan engagement would be tantamount to betrayal of its constituents.

When I saw the Opposition Leader sauntering gleefully into Parliament Chambers Thursday last, I thought that he had some good words to share with me after his meeting with President Granger. Instead, he swiped his neck with his right index finger, motioning that someone had cut my throat. Two of his cohorts, basking in radiant smiles, mumbled to me, “we threw you under de bus”!

PHYRRIC VICTORY
I was to find out later that the Opposition leader had disclosed at the meeting that he would not attend talks if the Prime Minister remained head of the government side. Reminiscent of his infamous “cuss-down politics” he told the media that he couldn’t negotiate binding agreements with me, as I was a “lightweight”.

President Granger volunteered to lead the government’s delegation to these talks. Jagdeo walked away with a pyrrhic victory, that he had sidelined me.

But talks are not about me. They are cardinal to finding a lasting political solution for Guyana. So I turned my face away from Jagdeo’s infantile tantrums. I let his insults pass. Instead, I welcomed the decision by President Granger to lead the Government team. That, for me, was a politically correct move from which Jagdeo would be unable to wriggle out.
For me, I remain undaunted. Old people say that the elephant keeps on walking in spite of the yapping of poodles at its heel!

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