One Guyana

WE have long been regarded as a land of six people. And even though our population composition and demographics have undergone some changes over the decades, there is one thing that we all have in common — a shared geographic space that we call Guyana.

We may not be among the richest country in the world when it comes to Gross Domestic Product and per capita income, but we have never been found wanting when it comes to our love for country, and our willingness to utilise all the resources at our disposal to take this country along the path of higher levels of economic prosperity and sustainable development.  Like so many other countries in the world, we are still to recover fully from the vestiges of our colonial past which left in its wake a legacy of underdevelopment, a skewed and imbalanced economic structure and, by no means least, a fractured political system based on an old and discarded system of divide and rule.

A lot of water has since passed under that ‘colonial bridge’. We are now a sovereign state with a proud people determined to move forward along the path of peace, progress and prosperity. We have become much wiser over the years and are less tolerant of those who seek to sow the seeds of division for their own selfish ends.

It is in the above context, and in the true spirit of ethnic and national reconciliation that His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has announced the establishment of a ‘One Guyana Commission’ aimed at the creation of a more cohesive and inclusive society. As the President noted, an important part of his Government is inclusion. “Stop being defined by race; stop being defined by politics. Start being defined by one nationality and by our common love for our country’ the President exhorted.

According to President Ali, his desire is to give meaning to that call for one Guyana by requesting the leader of government business in the National Assembly, the Prime Minister to introduce the adoption of an Act of Parliament establishing a ‘One Guyana’ Commission which will be spearheaded by him. The President said that the work of the Commission will be undertaken countrywide to encapsulate the free expression of all voices and respect for our diversity from which our ‘oneness’ springs.

It is envisaged that the Commission will go beyond race relations in the country and will also focus on our history, religion, ensuring equal opportunity for all, employment and entrepreneurship and institutional strengthening of the Ethnic Relations Commission.

Not to be overlooked in all of this is our Amerindian brothers and sisters who, as the President noted, occupy a special place in Guyana and are deserving of the respect of all Guyanese for their indigenous knowledge and practices which have contributed to our sustainable development, and who will also benefit from a range of measures over the next few years.

The decision by President Ali to set up a One Guyana Commission could not have come at a more opportune time as the country is now poised for economic and social transformation which will, as it were, lift all boats, and where no Guyanese will be left behind. The same sentiments were shared by Prime Minister Mark Phillips who, in a recent address to the National Assembly, encouraged all Guyanese to come on board. He said that the spirit of oneness is a critical ingredient for economic and social progress, one that is enshrined in our Constitution and fully embraced by the ruling PPP/C administration. According to the Prime Minister, if we are to achieve One Guyana, there must be room for all, regardless of race, religion, class, gender, geographic location, language, disability and sexual identity.

As a society, we have to embrace each other if the idea of a One Guyana is to be fully realised. We have to come to terms with the fact that our democracy, based on the principle of majoritarian rule, even though may not be ideal given our ethnic plurality and diversity, is still the best we have at the moment as the basis of rule and governance. More fundamentally, we have to be prepared to play by the democratic rules and refrain from refusing to accept the democratic will of the electorate. Sadly, we still have some work to do in this regard. The political opposition must, as a matter of urgent political and national imperative, come to terms with the reality of our political culture based on the will of the people as determined in free and fair elections.

It is not too late for the main political opposition to embrace the ideal of a free, independent, harmonious and prosperous Guyana as embraced in President Ali’s vision of One Guyana. Our people deserve no less.

 

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