EVERY Guyanese would want to savour this magnificent moment of the nation’s history and tackle the exciting task of propelling Guyana to its promise of what President Ali described as imminent “quadruple growth,” united as one Guyanese nation. Government demonstrated its commitment to national unity and inclusiveness with the President even inviting Brigadier David Granger to dialogue and a confab of former Presidents. The government last week reached out to the Linden community with a beautifully magnanimous gesture of goodwill and a comprehensive vision for the mining town, with a 1,000-house new development and landmark 50-house community for young professionals unveiled, along with an economic package that will benefit every resident.
Nobody could doubt government’s sincere reaching out to every segment of the society since its accession to office, with special attention, incentives and development programmes earmarked for communities aligned to the opposition.

In this time of the country’s history it would be fruitful and ideal were the opposition to take a leaf out of government’s playbook and set out with intentional leadership to build a national vision for its role in designing the future. The opposition would do the nation, and its constituents, a great service were it to avoid a sectarian approach to its role, especially its parliamentary participation, but also its on-the-ground rapport with the population. Retreating into groupthink and an ‘us vs them’ mentality would not serve the nation well at all.
Guyanese would be wary of the few commentators and voices on the national scene who try to sow political division, ethnic and racial strife, and schisms in the body politic. These few voices generate significant influence among their followers, and seem to revel in perpetuating a one-sided, race-based viewpoint about everything that happens in this country. They refuse to see positives anywhere. The country must be wary of these harsh, myopic, stern leaders who seem determined to sow nothing but angst and division.

Guyana today stands poised on a great threshold, about to leap into a new future that Guyanese have dreamed of for decades. Leaders, therefore, would serve Guyana well were they to join hands, hearts and heads to generate solutions, knit all communities together, and build a future where every single person benefits.

Government alone can only do so much. The private sector, with its role as the engine of economic growth; the public sector with its frontline interface with citizens and the need for efficient, professional service; the political scene, with government governing for every Guyanese and the opposition with its influence over its constituents needing to open its arms to all Guyana, its constituents making up a significant percentage of the nation, all these need to see that vision of a whole Guyana progressing in national peace and national prosperity. Thus, everything must be done with a national viewpoint, rather than a narrow, groupthink or ethno-based worldview. There is no place in these times for influential leaders who influence their constituents to be suspicious, paranoid, or negative about a section of their country.

Guyana is a full-blown democracy and every facet of the country must see that issues are decided at free and fair elections. In between elections, all Guyanese join in the process of development, pushing ahead, and forging a country everybody loves and cherishes.

In fact, the opposition should more than anybody else be motivated to make this new future happen with alacrity and optimism, because for decades under the PNC regime and then the coalition, the communities that suffered most socioeconomic hardship were their constituents, in Albouystown, Linden, New Amsterdam, Tiger Bay – under their governance. Yet some of their leaders and spokespersons play the race card, and during the coalition government’s tenure, certain mischievous writers and spokespersons were making all sorts of innuendos and accusations and blame against those whom they perceived to be well-off, enticing their followers to see thriving communities as their enemies. Some leaders aligned with the coalition even promoted the idea that wealth-transfer should happen by any and all means, taken from the well to do by whatever means.

This sort of mentality the Guyanese nation must be aware of, and encourage every voice on the public stage to instead engage, be proactive and solutions-oriented, and seek always to bring Guyanese together as one people. This national way of being takes hard work, and must not be ignored, but deliberately cultivated and nurtured.
The national economy, the socioeconomic building, is on the verge of exponential growth, not doubling or tripling in size, but multiplying four times its current size. That is monumental growth, and its rapid pace could very well be a world record. In this phase of such remarkable transformation for the nation, it is time for all public leaders and stakeholders, in the private and public sectors, in academia, in arts and culture, sports and entertainment, in every sphere of national life, to step up to the podium and care about the national soul as one nation, with one destiny.

Gone are the days when the coalition government saw Guyana through myopic lens, painting public buildings in the colours of the party. The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) failed to live up to the vision inherent in its name, and even the Alliance For Change (AFC) shed its image as a change agent to embrace this paranoia of painting public buildings around the country in party colours – a clear violation of democratic norms, and a throwback to the days when the People’s National Congress (PNC) practised party paramountcy.

The world saw in the United States recently what divisive rhetoric could sow, how it could damage a society, even a robust democracy like America. Guyana needs to take that lesson to heart and encourage all public leaders, commentators and change agents to embrace the Guyana of tomorrow, to cultivate the viewpoint of one people, one nation, with one destiny.

It is the only way Guyana would become a global success story, which would benefit every single Guyanese. This vision of a national playground must stir the heart of all who seek to grace the public stage with a determined goal that the national good is important, that the national viewpoint should be cultivated, rather than mere party, or ethnic identity, or race, religion or creed. Guyana is for all Guyanese, and every leader on the public stage would do well to cultivate this tone.

President Ali demonstrates with graphic action the government’s commitment to cultivate its vision for the whole national good, and to reach out embracing all of Guyana, and to sustain a sincere desire to see every Guyanese thrive and improve – quadruple, their standard of living and socioeconomic well-being.
It is a new day for Guyana, and all public figures would do well to care for all of Guyana, not just their section, but the whole nation.