The political failures of youth

Jan 09, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Sometimes you are glad to see a young man getting a break in life. Sometimes you are not.
On Wednesday, the President of Guyana swore in a relatively young man as the country’s new Minister of Housing and Water. It was not an unexpected choice because the party had already determined that he was their number one choice for the job, and the party has a principal say because the President can only appoint up to four persons as Ministers outside of his party’s parliamentarians.
I wish the young man well. I like to see youth having a chance to serve at the highest level… Well I used to like this, but our own recent experience in Guyana has caused me to rethink twice about placing my trust in youth.
There is clearly a difference in pedigree between the young politicians of today and those of yesteryear. Both Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham were extremely young men when they were thrust into the political limelight. And while they were clearly political titans in their own respects, they themselves chose many other young politicians who could clearly be differentiated from the young politicians of today.
The young politicians of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s were more matured than the present stock. They were also clearly also more intellectually endowed. They may not have been as lettered as today’s politicians but their grasp of ideas and their ability to act on these ideas allowed them to be respected by all classes within our society.
The young politicians of yesteryear were also confident in undertaking international negotiations. I certainly would not be too comfortable with some of our young politicians having to engage in the sort of negotiations that the older generation had to grapple with. But the quality that I find most missing today is the clear lack of passion and conviction. I really do not know what some of our young politicians believe in. I really do not know what they stand for and whether they will be prepared to struggle all their lives in order to pursue their beliefs.
I have been disappointed for a very long time in the lack of ideological orientation of many of the young politicians. We hardly know on which side of the fence they stand and how courageous they are in standing up for their beliefs.
Cheddi Jagan took a big gamble when he anointed Bharrat Jagdeo as his Minister of Finance. It was an investment in youth that was admired. Jagdeo was the only Minister that could have been said to have been young in age. Later the PPP took an even bolder step when they set the stage for Jagdeo’s eventual assumption to the Presidency. Once again the party boldly invested in youth.
That investment has not turned out right. We all know what has happened to Guyana’s economy between 1997 and 2005. We all know about the devastation of the floods of 2005 and thus it was inevitable that there would be recovery in the years 2006 and 2007. But can our economy sustain growth over a period of years? Can the stress on macroeconomic stability allow us to reach the production level of 450,000 tonnes of sugar which is necessary to make the sugar industry viable? Can we ever achieve the peak levels of production achieved in the seventies?
I look today at what is taking place in the Agriculture sector and I see a flurry of activity but not much substantial progress. I look at the economy and I hear a lot of talk about macroeconomic stability but not much about jobs and a living wage for workers.
Politically the situation has been worse. There is absolutely nothing other than self serving political cooperation in Guyana at the moment, and this is at the heart of our political problems.
I think that politically, youths have failed us. I wish the new Minister well and hope he can make a difference but I do not hold out much hope so long as the style of political management in our country remains the same.
But what pains me is to see how the younger political generation relates to the elders. I am disappointed by the way some of our senior citizens, persons with experience and expertise, are dismissed by the arrogant and heady politicians within our midst.
Some of these politicians are so full of themselves that they cannot even speak in natural tones; they have to put on a fake voice to stress how important they think they are. How little they know that behind their backs people find them pathetic and cosmetic.
We need a whole new approach to running this country, one that values experience and wisdom.
This is why I believe that the faster we allow the more seasoned and matured minds such as ‘The Donald’ and Ralph Ramkarran a chance to show what they can do within the government, the better it will be for all concerned.

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