FOR a democratic society to function well, the structure that forms the foundation for full participation of all citizens in the governance process needs to be strong, sturdy, and sound. After the struggle for free and fair elections comes the hard work of shifting gear for all parts of the nation to work towards the singular goal of socioeconomic development.
The antagonism and confrontational attitude and debates of the elections campaign period ought to give way to camaraderie, cooperation and conciliation to all branches of the system, including the opposition, collecting their thoughts and working together for the national public good. Political leadership involves looking out for the welfare and development of all Guyanese, whether they voted for the winning or losing candidate of national elections, and the opposition must understand that its supporters need its Members of Parliament to play a peaceful, positive, progressive role in helping to build their country. No Guyanese wants his/her Member of Parliament to tear down things or to take the attitude of opposing development of the country.

Everybody is in the boat together, and each must help to paddle forward, rather than hold things back in the name of opposition.
Whilst good state governance is the crucial pillar for the democratic foundation to maintain its integrity, the role of the national media and the opposition in Parliament must align well in a solid working relationship with all branches of government – municipal, regional and central, and with the judiciary, and with statutory independent bodies that serve as checks and balances on the power structure, such as the ombudsman, consumer affairs and standards organisations, and citizen-advocacy groups. Democracy functions well when there is strong alignment among its structural parts.

In the situation of a Parliament with the arrangement of seating as is the case with the Guyana National Assembly, where the government and opposition benches face each other across an aisle of division between the two, Parliament seems to trigger the default behaviour of adversarial opposition from the opposition towards government’s plans, programmes, and projects. In a system such as Guyana’s, which adopted the Westminster model from Britain, it is automatically assumed that Parliament is the place where government proposes legislation, budgetary and executive plans, programmes and projects, and the opposition’s job is to oppose it all, akin to playing the devil’s advocate. Although the Speaker of Parliament plays an independent refereeing role to keep both sides in order, Parliament in Guyana all too often descends into acrimony and strife.

There comes a time when it is useful to question this instinctive modus operandi of the Guyanese National Assembly, this proposition-opposition worldview. After free and fair elections have decided the party in government based on the popular vote, the business of conducting the nation’s affairs falls into the hands of Members of Parliament, and citizens want to see the parliamentarians cooperate, work in the sole interest of the national cause, for the progress and peace of the Guyanese nation — rather than partisan concerns, and to trust and support the democratic foundation, so that the structural integrity of a well-ordered democracy is upheld.

How inspiring to Guyanese would it be, were a development project to originate within the opposition camp and proposed to government in Parliament, and implemented as a solution from which the entire country benefits, with citizens looking on. Instead of seeing its function as critical and adversarial, were the opposition to reach across the aisle and engage government for the benefit of their constituents, one feels certain that government would welcome the gesture. Indeed, President Ali has already extended his hand, reaching out to the opposition by inviting Brigadier David Granger for engagement. The government has said it is open to full engagement with the opposition. Guyanese want to see engagement instead of antagonism.
Guyana needs all hands on deck at this hour, as the ship of state enters the big seas of socioeconomic development. Whilst the government steers the ship and manages the direction and maps the course, there is nothing stopping opposition Members of Parliament from lending a hand on deck, for them coming up with progressive ideas and visionary solutions and innovative new insights, and presenting these to government.

Instead of a way of being proposition vs opposition, where the country is all too often caught in the thick fog of the spirit of distrust, suspicion, and adversity, Guyanese would like to see their political leaders working together, engaging, and praising one another for their contributions to the nation. The paradigm of a constant adversarial standoff causes the body politic to lose energy as it constantly has to be fighting off an anchor of negativity dragging it down, instead of speeding ahead with the full confidence of all Guyana on board this amazing journey towards creating the future that works for all Guyanese.
Rather than the society suffering through five years in between national elections in the state of a passive stand-off between the opposition and the government, the nation wants the opposition to see itself as a positive, progressive political leadership pillar in the democratic structure.