Latest update June 16th, 2026 12:40 AM
WE CAN ONLY HOPE
We welcome the recent meeting between the President of Guyana and the Leader of the Opposition. We are pleased that finally some consideration is being given towards the appointment of a substantive Commissioner of Police.
For too long this appointment has been held in abeyance. For too long, the Top Cop has been acting. This certainly could not be an encouraging situation considering the many challenges facing the Guyana Police Force and the need for certainty and permanence in the leadership at the commencement of major security reforms.
While we are not certain as yet just who is the President’s choice for the position of Top Cop, it would be hard to contemplate anyone other than the acting Commissioner, Mr. Henry Greene, whose entire tenure has seen a marked improvement in crime-fighting by the Guyana Police Force.
In fact, had it not been for the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, we feel that the crime situation in Guyana would have been much improved, and this improvement would have been supported by the statistics on crime.
These two harrowing incidents, however, have distorted the impact of crime-fighting over the years which, while not bringing the situation to a desired level of stability, did in fact make major inroads into armed crime.
We hope that in order to support the Guyana Police Force in their drive to root out crime that urgent steps will now be taken to ensure that stability of leadership that results when persons are substantively appointed.
We hope therefore that the consultations between the President and the Leader of the Opposition would continue so that this most important position can be filled.
Under the Constitution, the President is mandated to consult meaningfully with both the Leader of the Opposition and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission after that person would have consulted with other bodies.
Thus, unlike what is being made out in some circles, the final decision does not rest with any single individual but has to arise out of meaningful processes of consultation.
While the President does not have to find consensus with the Leader of the Opposition, neither can he arbitrarily choose whomever he pleases since he is bound by a series of meaningful consultations and one of the persons with whom he is bound to consult with has in turn to consult with others.
This would mean that the President and those with whom he is consulting are bound to consider all possible candidates and to make a deliberative choice after giving reasons for the rejection and acceptance of those candidates. Case law is clear on what are the requirements for meaningful consultation and Guyana case law is explicitly clear on this point.
The meeting this past week between the President and the Leader of the Opposition offers, however, little promise of progress in other areas. There seems to be little indication that the government is willing to cede any ground on the many demands being made by the opposition in respect to the cost of living.
This is matter of national import and while the government can boast a menu of measures that is unprecedented anywhere in the world, Guyana’s own peculiar political and social circumstances should have dictated the need for greater national consensus on an issue as crucial as the cost of living.
While the discussions taking place between the President and the Leader of the Opposition will be welcome in society, the value of these meetings must go beyond their symbolic importance.
What is required is more flexible approach by the government to at least try to find some merit in something that the opposition has to offer. After all, no one political party or government can claim to have all the answers to all the problems of Guyana.
We therefore hope that the present talks mark a new beginning, along a new road which will lead to new vistas of cooperation between the government and the opposition. We can only hope.
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