OUR society today works according to democratic principles. Our history reflects a time when democracy did not exist, when freedom of the press, paramountcy of the ruling party, and denial of basic human rights formed the relationship between Government and Guyanese.Today, there’s so much freedom of the press and electronic media that gross irresponsibility and wanton disregard for the role of public ethical behaviour underline quite a few influential national media outfits.
Today, the ruling party dare not practice any form of paramountcy, and in fact distances itself from the decades when the flag of the People’s National Congress (PNC) hung over the High Court building in Georgetown.
Today, the citizens of our nation enjoy recourse to a series of mechanisms to deal with abuse of their rights, and we even take for granted the socio-economic function that guarantees food, housing and freedom of movement and so on. Such human rights now stand entrenched as daily rights of the people.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall this week told the nation on national TV that citizens could challenge Government even on matters of Constitutional or Administrative matters.
That’s a huge plus for the democratic structure of the Guyanese society.
The national media play a poor role in refusing to educate citizens on their rights, powers and privileges. Instead of Reporters and Editors gleefully jumping on frenzied soundbites and irrational rants of discontents who spew nasty allegations and baseless accusations against Government and persons they don’t like, they would better serve this nation were they to educate the Guyanese population on our democratic privileges.
After nearly three decades of a dictatorship administration, that destroyed the socio-economic and political structure of the Guyanese society, the national mentality of the body politic suffered tremendous damage: we became victims of a victim-mentality; we suffered a dependency syndrome; and, crucially, we developed a rampant distrust for Government and authority.
The corruption that ran riot in the dictatorship period became our entrenched institutional culture, and now we don’t intuitively realise that Guyana is an entirely different social landscape.
We still seem unable to fully comprehend that democracy is now the underlying basis for our relationship with Government, and that we elect such a Government in free and fair elections, and the power of the Government lies in the hands of the people.
We owe it to citizens to launch a comprehensive education campaign across the country, involving the national media, the State, and civic organisations to provide thorough information and user-friendly brochures and bulletins and videos and online material that guide citizens through the mechanisms Government has already set in place to shore up our democratic culture.
After the restoration of democracy in 1992, the Government deliberately worked to transform the institutional framework of Government to allow for citizen participation, the empowering of Guyanese, and the systematic role of voters in the governing of the country.
However, this action remained largely academic, with citizens not knowledgeable about their new powers and rights and privileges.
We saw the Opposition use this lack of engagement from citizens to stir up mass hysteria over allegations and accusations that lacked substance, and could not hold up to investigation and scrutiny.
No one says Government is perfect, or that the governing systems are without flaws and imperfections. Entrenching democratic ideals in any society takes time and is always a work in progress. The systems must evolve as the economy and the social landscape develop and advance.
So it’s inevitable there would arise complaints and misconceptions and misunderstandings.
But the Government of Guyana has now entrenched so much systemic structure in the democratic process that Guyanese live in a new land: only, we don’t know it fully as yet.
Now that much of the structure is in place for Guyana’s smooth democratic functioning, the next big step is a massive, comprehensive citizen education programme so that Guyanese act on their rights, privileges and powers.
Such an exercise would nullify the sort of dysfunction we saw in the 10th Parliament, where the Opposition used several high profile national projects to generate stories of sleaze and slander.
If citizens know that they themselves could challenge problems they encounter in public works and Government’s functions, it would cripple the Opposition’s modus operandi, and we may very well see the country develop a social space where Parliamentarians talk of vision, developmental strategy, and projects for enhancing our socio-economic performance as an emerging, thriving 21st century society.
We’ve got to start this national conversation around our democracy, generating in citizens the idea that now the Guyanese people stand empowered, enjoying all the basic human rights of a modern society, and, once fully knowledgeable of the noble privileges we’ve got at our fingertips, we play a role in Government.
We tend to stop the democracy talk at free and fair elections, and myopic discontents and disgruntled folks invade the vacuum of the lack of this discussion with talk that we’re an undemocratic society. Such dishonesty disempowers citizens, making them feel helpless and powerless.
Were we to embark on a national education campaign to inform citizens of their rights, powers and privileges in our democracy, we would see vibrant, motivated, inspired communities tackling the task of engaging positively with Government. Such a citizen-State culture of collaboration would see that development projects and Government functions benefit citizens to the full possibilities.
As Guyana moves forward, as we advance in developing the structures and systems so necessary for us to rise to our potential, now that we’ve achieved socio-economic stability and secured our democratic foundation, it’s necessary to provide citizens with a full complement of information and knowledge for us to know and be active in our democratic culture.
This role the Opposition must see as of utmost importance, even as Government is starting to lead the way in the process.

by Shaun Michael Samaroo