PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar, even from the inception in his maiden speech as Guyana’s Head-of-State, has always invited the Opposition to share in the decision-making processes of administration through discussions, with an open invitation to the Leader of the Opposition, David Granger, and even to the miniscule AFC. Their gerrymandering, however, was not confined to Parliament, but to every forum whereby they sought relevance in the political fray.The Prorogation Proclamation was also meant to give all stakeholders, including the citizens of the land, a breathing space and an opportunity for dialogue and reason to take the nation forward instead of a descent to anarchy. But the joint Opposition was resolutely on a path of destruction and dissension, as is their wont – nothing to do with reason or a sense of responsibility to their constituents. Their clamour was for shared governance. In other words, inclusion in the Cabinet. Recall the constant pandemonium and unending ruckus the Opposition cabal contrived and all the shenanigans that transpired during the tenth Parliament then imagine the bedlam that would ensue in Guyana’s Cabinet were members of the Opposition to be given access to that policy-making body.
They already have participatory leadership through the Parliament and the parliamentary committees, but nothing short of the Presidency would suit them. It boggles the mind how they would split this coveted post to satisfy all the presidential aspirants in the new ‘marriage of convenience’ were they to win the next elections.
It was this recognition of the need for participatory leadership that prompted Dr Jagan, even while he was being cheated through the electoral process, to reach out to his opponents, either through offering critical support for some worthwhile programmes initiated by the PNC Government, or the formation of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), and the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) in efforts to restore a democratic culture in Guyana prior to l992.
And due to the fact that the other leaders of Guyana were only interested in power rather than caring for the welfare of the nation, Dr. Jagan faced bitter opposition from his protagonists, to the detriment of national unity and prosperity. Today, those who want entry into government through the backdoor are touting power-sharing and using every tactic of destabilisation in efforts to eventuate this outcome.
Dr. Jagan never abandoned his thinking, however, and reached out to the general society to those who dreamt, like himself, of a Government of national unity. Thus was the Civic component of the Government conceived: So there was no winner-take-all policy. Even from the inception, if one judges from the original composition of the Cabinet; and even today leaders from other parties, as well as former ministers and prominent members of the PNC administration comprise the current Cabinet, along with a surprisingly few original members of the PPP.
The PPP/Civic Government has also retained key officials in sensitive areas of administration and has never sought accountability from the past regime for State properties and records, much of which had disappeared when they demitted office, so there was never any witch-hunting. Today the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee that is mandated to scrutinise every aspect and facet of public spending has been held from the inception by the PNC.
These parliamentary committees, whereby members of Government and Opposition interrelate with all stakeholders to scrutinise and advise on the way forward for policy decisions in the governance process, have generated a mutual respect between participating MPs, to the extent where a young PPP/C M.P. Irfaan Ali once found himself so much in sync with the thinking of PNC veteran, the late Winston Murray, as they examined the nation’s accounts, that one female PNC/R M.P once teased Irfaan that he would soon belong to them.
But these processes have created friends out of once bitter enemies, who usually work unstintingly, committedly, always striving for unanimity towards decisions for the nation’s good, and even when unanimity cannot be achieved relations remained cordial.
This is because it is recognised that most members within both major parties really love this country and care about the welfare of its people.
However, loyalty to Party supersedes, and sometimes succeeds in derailing, decisions taken at committee level by individual members; and strategies of destabilisation and provocation ensue.
Within the parameters of the human condition disagreement at any forum is inevitable. It, however, bespeaks maturity, unity of purpose, and vision transcending, and to the exclusion of, narrow partisan and personal interests to chart and hold a course toward achievement of an ideal of a nation united in purpose to carve a destiny of peace and prosperity and truly make of this country of ours a paradise on earth.
The hardcore veterans whose charter includes utilisation of all the Machiavellian strategies contained in the diabolical X-13 Plan are making the nation cry rivers of blood while the voice of reason has been silenced in the thunder of the cannons that devastate the nation’s hope for a brighter future.