WHEN you ruminate on both the internal and external criticisms of the Guyana Government and as a practicing social scientist, one question jumps up at you immediately. You wonder if the flaws are anti-democratic then which country is democratic?
I have been examining the totality of criticism of the government since the Ali took office in August 2020 and when I read and hear accusations about the policy defects and misbehaviour of the government then my curiosity becomes a runaway train.
I could give, and I mean this literally, thousands of examples where the Guyana Government is faulted for a policy or action or pronouncement and the conclusion is that either the government is undemocratic or heading in that direction. Then I look around the world and I see the same faults in other governments. So the mystery is which country on Planet Earth is democratic.
The co-owner of the Stabroek News, Isabelle DeCaires, deemed Guyana a dysfunctional democracy because of the eventual shape of the Natural Resource Fund. But one of the world’s leading experts on sovereign wealth funds described Guyana’s version as one of the best he has seen. The gentleman has not even the thinnest relationship with either the ruling party or the Guyana Government.
Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan interpreted the displeasure of the government against a few decisions of the judiciary as signs of a creeping autocracy when the Boris Johnson Government, during the Brexit campaign, commented adversely on a court decision brought by a Guyanese–British woman that Parliament must approve Brexit. The Biden Administration, earlier this year, described a Federal Supreme Court decision as a violation of the Constitution.
The chief actor in ACDA, Eric Philips, wants power-sharing in Guyana. When asked to name countries with such a system, he told his questioner to search the internet. Henry Jeffrey wrote that Guyana lacks the essential features of a liberal, democratic country but he cannot do the comparison because he cannot name a nation whose liberal, democratic features exceed those of Guyana.
There is a German professor with Guyanese blood by the name of Dr. Andre Brandli who lives and works in Germany. He is a critic of the Guyana Government. But here is what Stabroek News (SN) columnist, Ashma John, a German citizen, who like Brandli, has Guyanese blood wrote about her adopted country in the October 20 edition of SN.
I quote Ms. John: “Over the past year, as democratic as Germany pledges itself to be, we have seen excessive police brutality involving protestors, censorship, raids and outright harassment. We have heard of discussions surrounding Nazi-style deportation policies.” Does Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan think Germany is an empirical autocracy? Can Jeffrey categorise Germany as having the attributes of liberal democracy? Why Dr. Brandli does not tell us if Germany is more democratic than Guyana?
Dr. Ramcharan lives in Canada. Does he know that, in 2022, the Prime Minister invoked emergency powers to stop a strike by truckers? Is that an example of creeping Canadian autocracy? In March last year, the French president anticipating that he would lose a parliamentary vote on his pension legislation overrode parliament and made the Bill into law. Is France more democratic than Guyana?
I have no problem whatsoever when people condemn the Ali presidency for what they think is undemocratic conduct. People have a right to criticise the government. But do not do so when you cannot polish your criticism with rationality and logic. If you cannot do so then you are just a mere propagandist or you seek to fool young minds.
If the Guyana Government is not consulting the opposition, then show Guyanese why Guyana stands out as a negative example because other democratic countries have a policy of reaching out to their opposition. When you do that, then your arguments and points become valid. But if you cannot do so then you should be described as a rabble-rouser or propagandist. If Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund is lop-sided, then analyse the other funds around the world and show us the faults of our fund. But do not dismiss Guyana’s version because you do not like the government.
This is what we have in Guyana, especially from Guyanese who live in other countries. In a forthcoming column, I will look at countries where Guyanese live that have thriving fossil fuel industries and these very Guyanese do not touch that subject but they want Guyana to get out of oil production.
Guyana’s democracy stands tall as we see democracy crumbling in the countries which we were brought up to think were democratic. Look at their attitude to genocide. Read the words about this crumbling democracy from the two 2024 Nobel Prize winners for economics. Guyana’s democracy is alive and kicking.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.