NOW that the President has said that on March 2, 2020 Guyanese will go the polls, the country can now expect the real election campaign to begin. But, in a sense, we have already been treated to samples of what the campaign would look like.
Clearly, it is going to be a hard-fought campaign as both major contestants and the newer parties try to convince the electorate of their credentials. The unusually long campaign season gives the parties ample time to make their cases.

If previous election campaigns are anything to go by, we should be on our guard. We have seen in the past , for example, where parties resort to direct appeals to ethnic sentiments. Of course, in our ethnically divided society, parties are expected to rally their respective bases. But there must be a distinction between speaking to ethnic-specific issues and inflaming ethnic tensions. We cannot afford the consequences of such tensions. Appeals to race, directly and indirectly, do not advance the country. They leave racial carcasses in their wake which often take permanent root. We therefore appeal to political parties and other stakeholders to hold the line on this deplorable kind of politics.

Already we have seen that one party is prepared to employ such tactics. If the performance at the Pegasus last week is a dress rehearsal for the real campaign, then we are in for a rough ride. We therefore call on the contesting parties to make individual and collective commitments to conduct themselves in ways that would guarantee ethnic peace. Guyana’s ethnic divide is a colonial legacy that all Guyanese organisations should try to control. Elections, in principle and practice, ought to result in more ethnic harmony rather than an exacerbation of the problem.

We have seen in the last nine months a tendency on both sides of the political divide to demonise political leaders. This is most unhelpful. One only has to peruse social media to read the vile remarks directed at the president and other government leaders. This practice represents the worse in us. We cannot as a country be proud of ourselves if we do not find ways to engage in polemics without resort to character assassination, personal abuse and racist attacks. If we continue with this kind of behaviour it could eventually turn into physical attacks. Only empty vessels respond to ideas with attacks on persons.
We hope that our parties could find ways to make the campaign about ideas and policies. There is no more powerful deterrence to ethnic sentiments in a campaign than common sense ideas and policies. Already we are hearing about some interesting policies from the coalition. This is a good sign that we hope is emulated by the other parties. As we move into the era of oil and gas, Guyanese deserve to hear from its leaders and parties about serious plans to manage that new dispensation. It is high time we show the rest of the Caribbean and the world that despite our historical problems and challenges, we are capable of civilised political and economic discourse.

The responsibility to lift the campaign discourse should be shared by the media. Too often, we in the Fourth Estate have allowed our narrow agendas to stand in the way of facilitating healthy discussion and presentation of news and views. This imminent campaign is a good time to lead the way in correcting that national ailment. In the final analysis, many citizens rely on the media to translate and interpret information for them—the media remain a potent agent of political socialisation. Even if sections of the media represent partisan interests, that should not prevent them from facilitating intelligent and non-racial discourses. The proverbial ball is also in the media’s court.

Citizens must also play their part in ensuring a high-quality election campaign. Every party should be given a hearing—there should be no “garrison communities” whereby certain parties are “banned” from certain villages or wards in the towns. Guyana belongs to all of us and freedom of expression in the public space must be respected by all. Breaking up and disruption of public meetings should be discouraged at all cost. Let us compete aggressively, but do so in a comradely spirit. Elections come and go, but our country will remain.

Finally, we take this opportunity to plead with the PPP to drop its rhetoric of the last nine months. There might be the temptation to continue the baseless charges of illegality and unconstitutionality. That rhetoric has already caused a lot of stress internally and sullied the image of our country abroad. In the spirit of shared nationalism, let us ensure that we repair the damage that such misguided partisan rhetoric has caused. Guyana deserves better.