MUCH has been done by the current administration to change not only the role, but the perception that a significant portion of the population has had of the armed services.

Today, the PPP/C Government has vastly restored the confidence of the Guyanese people in the military.

This is according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who also serves as Secretary to the Defence Board. Dr. Luncheon made these statements during an interview with Head of the Government Information Agency, Neaz Subhan, on the National Communications Network (NCN) programme ‘Political Scope’ that was aired on Sunday.

“I think that the professionalism that we have insisted, that the military has exhibited over these years, their record over these 23 years, has been such that we have been able to, by all intents and purposes removed from the immediacy of their engagement with the Guyanese people, those unpleasant historical antecedents,” Dr. Luncheon said in his usual inimitable style.

Reflecting on the change in the military from 1992, to now, Dr. Luncheon said successive generations of Secretary to the Defence Board and Chief-of-Staff see this period as one that has built and has been building on the restoration of positive military tradition.
He explained that this has been one of the goals of the administration. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in 1992 became the Government, and recognised that the military situation was “untenable”.
“…this was an unhealthy situation in any evolving democracy that indeed any military was indeed a disaster from day one,” Dr. Luncheon said.
Those who are convergent with the history of the politics, of the Government in Guyana will remember the role that was aspired to the military as an agent of the then PNC party in subjugating the democracy of the country in denying free and fair election.

HEALING THE BREACH
“My specific mandate was to do all that was necessary to heal the breach, and I am pretty certain the same instruction was given to the then Minister of Home Affairs who dealt with the civilian agencies,” Dr. Luncheon said, as he recalled one of his earlier encounters with the then President Dr. Cheddi Jagan, pertaining to his role as Secretary to the Defence Board.
Dr. Luncheon explained that the late President understood clearly the need to heal the breach between the large segments of the Guyanese people and the military.
“We knew a patriotic military had to rise above that historical fact, and Dr. Jagan said that one of our contributions was to contribute to that healing,” he posited.
“I want to believe, I have worked with every single Chief of Staff since 1992, and I have literally kept Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s exhortation foremost in the administration’s engagement with the military establishment,” he continued.
There was a difficulty in changing the perception of the military to the public. Dr. Luncheon noted, “It is not easy to eliminate, to remove from one’s consciousness, some of the issues that took place, but time is a great healer.”
“When what is being done currently supports the efforts to heal, support the efforts to undo, I think the opportunities that are realised can be quite significant as had happened in the Guyanese military example.”
Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier (Rt’d) David Granger is a former brigadier within the military. Responding to a question on how the body politics in Guyana has been affected by the ‘Granger factor’, Dr. Luncheon expressed the view that “one may quibble whether indeed there is a one-on-one relationship between Granger, the militarisation and the success, but I would not quibble, I would give David the edge and say yes. But I have said that what it has done is that it has generated enormous potential for unravelling what has happened over the last 23 years.”

With the potential being the body politics of divisiveness, he explained that, “It is easy to cultivate and revive memories and the specter of the military and a military dominated Opposition, and for many… a military dominated government, I think sets a radical reversal of where and what we were doing,” Dr. Luncheon said.

Moreover, Dr. Luncheon noted that this is perhaps something that has to be continuously addressed, the impact of a military dominated opposition on the serving military. “I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that, (I have seen the Facebook articles, I have seen the social media) it is divisive,” he said.

He cited that a Chief of Staff can walk off the job, respectful of the civilian military relationship, and next day be a strong architect of the Opposition, but somehow it is not part of Guyana’s political traditions.
Dr. Luncheon said he has examined this in Caricom and there are not many examples in the English speaking Caricom nations, of such actions. Even further afield, the results have been mixed.

DISTURBING
He said a military dominated Opposition, and further a military dominated government is disturbing. He views former military officers going into politics soon after leaving office as one that could be addressed constitutionally. “Were I to be given the authority by whatever possibility, I probably would have a constitutional amendment that would not allow this situation that sees within a reasonable time frame, serving members of the disciplined forces ensconce and actively engage in politics within days, weeks of their resignation, retirement, removal from service,” Dr. Luncheon declared.
The veteran politician also indicated that he had this very discussion with the last Chief of Staff, noting that, “… I think our history – what we have gone through and what other countries went through, ought to have some influence on how avidly we protect these constitutional rights of individuals particularly when there is a possibility of conflict with the general and public good.”
Serving members of the Disciplined Forces actively engaging in politics within days of leaving their office puts a tremendous pressure on the Defence Secretariat, on Defence Headquarters and the leadership because now the potential for division exists and they now have to ensure that things do not go awry, Dr. Luncheon said.

(GINA)