When critics put party above country

Jan 09, 2009 Features / Columnists

It is often a difficult thing to have people appreciate that this government is not only for some of the people in this country. Every Guyanese is critical to development in one sphere or another. Right now the farmers are proving their worth because their produce is scarce on the market and people are beginning to feel the pinch.
Many farmers have been affected by the floods and have lost acres of crop. But during the period of normalcy when things were in abundance, people did not pay attention to the source of the things they put on their table. They did not even see the farmer as being important.
There are the contractors and the engineers and the masons and other skilled artisans. All of these people are important to the national cause and no political party has a hold on all of them. These are the people who have modified the aesthetics of the country and are responsible for the many constructions that have provided jobs for so many.
Because skills transcend political borders, these are reasons that help promote dialogue in most civilized countries.
People were quick to point out that President Barack Obama reached into the opposition ranks to staff his administration and these people responded.
There has been no comment about people being traitors to their party because the wider society recognizes that country is more important than party.
When the financial crisis hit the United States everyone was called to discuss a solution—government and opposition alike. The problem is slowly being solved. Again, there was the recognition that country was more important than party.
It was this recognition that sparked the drive for a government of national unity in Guyana in the first instance.
Both of the major political parties recognized the importance of political unity that they, from time to time, made efforts to reach this goal. Unfortunately, these efforts were not as sustained as they should have been and therefore did not achieve the desired results.
More recently, President Bharrat Jagdeo invited the Leader of the Main Opposition Party to talks to help resolve some of the political problems in the country. There was a meeting and things were heading to the stage where there would have been a structure with which there could have been some forward movement.
At the time of the meeting, the People’s National Congress Reform was preparing for its congress. There was the move to fashion an agenda and for a while it seemed as if things would have moved along and the nonsense that has bedevilled this country for decades would have been over.
Racial intolerance, while not a major problem in this country, is something that seems to underline every political decision. One race group feels distrustful of the other and there are cases of hostility if one member of a particular race group aligns himself or herself with a political party that seems to attract more people from one ethnic group.
Many people have been lambasted for simply cooperating with one political party or the other. The greatest abuse is reserved for those who seek to work with the ruling party because in some sections of the society there are those whose sole ambition and purpose is to blame the government.
It must have been this ambition and purpose that torpedoed the most recent attempt to reach some form of political agreement or rapprochement between the two major parties. The first round of talks with Opposition Leader Robert Corbin went very well and things seemed to be moving at last.
Then Mr. Corbin holds his party’s congress and by the time that event is over there is lost ground because suddenly people within his party begin to accuse him of fraternising with the government as though that is a most serious crime.
Then there are the critics who live in New York and elsewhere in the Diaspora who have accused Corbin of cutting deals with the government, of taking money from the government and of not being confrontational enough. Some have even spread rumours that Corbin has agreed with President Jagdeo that the latter should have a third term.
Mr. Corbin retreated from the talks but he is now calling for shared governance. The critics are blaming the government for a failure on the part of the opposition to encourage shared governance.
This issue will be continued. Suffice it to say that the mould of people being ready to blame the government is not helping their cause nor is it helping the country.

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