I TOOK the time to read Joey Jagan’s response to Mike’s letter on shared governance. (KN, Mike Persaud needs a special letter section for his ‘nancy stories’)
Joey thrashes Mike on his “interpretation” of shared governance and coalition government.

His main point is that shared governance has been seen since 330 BC to be a viable form of government and he cites examples to make his point.

“George Washington, when he formed the first government of the USA, shared governance with the 13 original states of the first union and incorporated leaders of the Republican political organizations (Jefferson) and the Federalists (Hamilton), opposing political interests, into his first government.”

Joey further states: “The concept of shared coalition governance is one which has no contradictions because the ethnic split in our political life can only be healed by new experiments in sharing the pie of development and coalescing around common goals.”

I would like to think that Joey is  “hunting”  for attention and scrapes on anything that he thinks may turn some light on him. What he fails to realise is that the examples he cites are all irrelevant to the point of shared governance as it pertains to our situation in Guyana.  All of the examples he uses are basically situations where ideology was the difference between the parties.

In Guyana, the ideology of the political parties is somewhat similar and an election should be sufficient to decide which party forms the government.

However, there are, within some of the political parties, those who demand the right to rule, regardless of the outcome of the election. These people, like children, will have a tantrum if they don’t get their way. In fact, these are the people who will pull the “race card” as their reason for demanding a piece of the pie even when the population shows a different preference.

Joey, of all people should know our history and the exploits of the likes of Burnham, Hoyte, Green, Granger, et al. Race should never be a qualifying factor for one to be included in a government. Political savvy and genuine desire to build a nation based on sound economic principles are what help all people, of all racial backgrounds – regardless of their various backgrounds. Give people the opportunity to build and enjoy a good life and the colour of your skin won’t matter.
Joey, the ethnic split in our political life can only be healed by honest, decent-minded, fair politicians with a sound business plan and not, as you put it, “…by new experiments in sharing the pie of development and coalescing around common goals”.
There is no need for “experiment”. Just cut out the cry-baby attitude, shown by the PNCR and some of the “Johnny-come-lately” politicians who want it just because they are of a particular race and will exploit that racial divide for their personal gains. Indeed, most of those who play the race game even promote / support violence as a remedy to a fair election.
Let the political parties share their respective plans for governing the nation and let the people choose freely. Once the people have spoken, do not disrespect their overall choice by including those, whose policies were rejected. Finally, don’t destroy the democratic system by eliminating the important function of the opposition. The election decides who will be in the opposition as much as it decides who will be in government.