A return to the way we are

Aug 27, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

What happens if general and regional elections are called within three months after the passage of a no-confidence motion? There are a number of theoretical possibilities, one of which is a return to the status quo.
A return to the status quo means that the PPPC holds the reins of Executive power and the combined opposition holds legislative power. Is this progress or a step backward?
For the political opposition, this would represent a step backward, since it would mean that they would have gained nothing from the recalling of the government and the holding of elections. For the people of Guyana, it would mean having to endure yet another period in which there is haggling and obstruction within the National Assembly.
Already the country’s development has been adversely affected. No investor, other than those interested in our natural resources, is going to sink significant sums into our country, given the political instability that a minority government creates.
This is why it was important for the parties in the National Assembly to make an extra special effort to ensure that the minority government/majority parliamentary opposition model worked.
Reducing the government to a minority was not quite the objective that the opposition parties were seeking when elections were called in 2011. But achieving a majority in parliament was perhaps their greatest accomplishment.
Unfortunately they have squandered the opportunities that this majority opened. Instead of working hard to ensure deeper political cooperation between the government and the opposition, something that would have enhanced the credibility of the shared governance concept, the opposition has been belligerent.
Instead of using their one-seat majority to coerce the PPPC into greater shared governance, this was used to go after the PPPC and encroach on its right to govern. This approach was expectedly rejected by the PPPC. Today relations between the PPPC and the opposition parties are at their lowest ebb ever. The opposite should have been true.
Power sharing has been undermined. It has lost credibility in the eyes of the public. A return to the status quo following new elections will intensify mass disillusionment with shared governance.
Not only then would the opposition have lost ground if there is a return to the status quo following elections, but one of their main platforms, shared governance, is likely to be permanently discredited.
A return to the status quo will also end the political careers of a number of leaders. For the AFC, the situation will be dire. If their no-confidence motion leads to a return to the status quo, then the political careers of a number of their present leaders will be over. These leaders would have failed to make any advances and the party is going to look towards a more youthful and dynamic leadership.
For APNU, the failure to win the Executive Presidency, which looks almost impossible now, will mean the end of the political career of David Granger. For someone who was not known to be part of the political leadership of the PNC and the PNCR prior to being named as the party’s presidential candidate, this will be a sad outcome. Mr. Granger has not been given sufficient time to become a popular political leader. If he fails to win the Executive Presidency the next time around, it will mean that he will be pressured to resign and someone else will have to assume the leadership of the PNCR.
For Donald Ramotar, there is everything at stake. If there was anyone who could have promoted greater cooperation with the opposition parties it was him. He is a decent, honest and honourable man. But from day one he was confronted by a belligerent opposition. He was pushed back on the defensive and remains so. It is not likely that he will look forward to a return to the Presidency under a minority government.
There are therefore grave implications for Guyana and the country’s political parties should elections produce the same results. Guyana would have gone no place. Instead of the political parties in the opposition accepting responsibility for this state of affairs, they will deflect their own failures onto the government, which is what we have today. In other words, the status quo will continue.

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A return to the way we are

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