-at thought of a Jagdeo ‘Third-Term’
NOT A DAY goes by without ‘coalition’ chatter in Guyana. This prattle focuses excessively on who should be part of the coalition, who should be the leader, and the matter about a Jagdeo third term. This babble seems to project an obsession with a third term, and it is as if it is part of the terms of reference for a coalition construct; and very little chatter about reaching some consensus about a programme for Guyana’s development.
Clearly, coalition thinking is in vogue. Each opinion leader and change agent in the imaginary coalition hustles to become the folk hero and to secure the coveted prize, political power. The trouble is that all the ‘talkers’ around the coalition table want to be folk heroes and fancy themselves as opinion leaders.
Perhaps, if you ask the prospective coalition leaders why they go to such lengths to engineer a ‘coalition reality’ and suffer such immense public humiliation and shrieks of desperation in the process, they may say that it is the only viable option available to remove the failed PPP/C from office; and deliver salvation to this nation. But is this the coalition leaders’ real motive? I suspect that many ordinary Guyanese would see that gaining political power for its own sake is their primary motivation, and not something altruistic. Should the Guyanese people reject this false reason for constructing coalitions? And is their line not cherry picking?
Recently, I noted: “Look, Guyana is not faultless… Let me just say that while cherry picking is inappropriate to draw general conclusions, we must not ignore those individual cases of torture, human rights abuses, corruption, etc., alleged or otherwise. And look, there is corruption in some quarters in this country, something that is characteristic of many public bureaucracies. Nonetheless, this is something that requires elimination; but please, let us not present it as if it is cancerous across the body politic….”
QUOTE: ‘Clearly, coalition thinking is in vogue. Each opinion leader and change agent in the imaginary coalition hustles to become the folk hero and to secure the coveted prize, political power. The trouble is that all the ‘talkers’ around the coalition table want to be folk heroes and fancy themselves as opinion leaders’
And how has the PPP/C Government failed its people? Does the PPP/C Administration not have the word ‘development’ in its vernacular? Make your own judgment on the following sample of information from the Bank of Guyana Quarterly Report, March 2010:
• Increased output in the agriculture sector: sugar (39.4%); rice (10.7%); and forestry (8.6%).
• Increased production in the manufacturing sector: alcoholic beverages (35.7%); non-alcoholic beverages (9.6%); paints (41.9%).
• Gold output increased at 11.1%.
• Inflation: 0.5%.
• Capital adequacy ratio (CAR): 19.8% (March 2010); 16.9% (march 2009).
The World Bank recorded Guyana’s GNI per capita at US$1,300 (2007), and provided a 2.5% GDP growth forecast for 2010, and 3% for 2011. Other developmental aspects included: Berbice River Bridge and Takutu Bridge; Foreign Direct Investment was US$71 in 2005; improved disposable income of US$1,436 million; better minimum wage of US$158 in 2009 compared to US$22 in 1991; housing expansion – more than 70,000 house lots, 35,000 titles, and a low 6% mortgage interest rate; 85% accessibility to water today compared to 40% in 1992; increased CXC performance of 80% compared to 47% in 1991; University Education now in Berbice; 56% additional trained teachers now compared to 35% in 1991; improved secondary school enrolment now at 72% compared to 35% in 1991; 84 new schools since 1992; new health infrastructure – new hospitals at New Amsterdam, Georgetown, and Kamarang; increased immunization rates among children now 95% compared to 65% in 1991; Infant Mortality Rate now 48 per 1,000 compared to 120 per 1,000 in 1991; maternal mortality rate now 11 per 1,000 compared to 34 per 1,000 in 1991; Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV with 159 sites in 2009.
Indeed, there are detractors who will say, so what about these developments, as they do not demonstrate that Guyana is modernizing? Well, I would ask, what about if none of these development pieces had happened today, and that there was no macroeconomic stability? I suspect the detractors would then say that Guyana should have had macroeconomic stability, and that these developmental measures should have happened in the 17 years of PPP/C rule.
The fact of the matter is that given the challenges of external debt, financial viability, and external shocks, including the credit tsunami, the PPP/C Government’s developmental record deserves a passing grade; and from the PPP/C’s perspective, a serious mulling over a possible Jagdeo third term should be on track. Even so, the PPP/C has viable leadership alternatives for the upcoming elections.
Recently, I noted: “Altman showed that the more diversified and broader the ideology of the various parties, the lesser the probability for the formation of coalitions. In effect, the more polarized a party system is, the less the likelihood that a coalition will emerge. Guyana has multiple parties with diversified ideologies which may not induce the formation of effective coalitions….” Every day, we are witnessing an enactment of this scene.
And let us not mince words on the motive for coalition formation where the primary motive is to gain political power for its own sake. Nevertheless, the coalition opinion leaders seem to have concerns bordering on obsession about a possible Jagdeo third term, and the imposing PPP/C leadership alternatives, who are willing and able to participate in this competition for power, but not power for its own sake. (Feedback: pmperspectives@aol.com themisirpost.wordpress.com)
