There is nothing in the President’s background that identifies him as an advocate for peace

Dec 14, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

The recent disclosure that the current President of Guyana was being recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize had to have been surprising for some, alarming for others, and of course rapturous for those firmly ensconced in the PPP Disney Land of political power.

It would have been surprising for some, because nothing that Mr. Jagdeo has done since assuming the Presidency, even remotely, parallels or resembles the peace efforts of previous recipients of this prestigious award.

It would have been alarming to others because it cements the perception that ethnic and political partisanship continue to persistently and shamelessly shape the perspective of Guyanese at home and abroad.

The Nobel Peace Prize is a bequeath from the late Swedish Industrialist and Inventor Alfred Nobel. It is one of five such bequeaths under different categories, and he willed that this award should be bestowed on the person who, “……..shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promoting of peace congresses”.

Alfred Nobel was a Chemical Engineer, and he was not known to have been involved in social activism. The other categories for which awards are bestowed are Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Literature. There still is no definitive reason why Alfred Nobel chose to include Peace as a category for his bequeaths. Some, including members of the Nobel Committee, attribute his choice to a friendship he had with a peace activist and subsequent recipient of the peace prize. Others ascribe it to regret or apology for his inventions of destructive elements like Dynamite and Ballistite.

Whatever his motivation, Alfred Nobel intuitively recognised that the capacity to prioritize peace before war and conflict was one of our most endearing and precious human characteristic. The proof of this recognition reside in his bequeath of an incentive that would encourage leaders and activists to reach for that holy grail of human character which is, unfortunately, so very scarce among our diverse personality traits.

My question is, where is the evidence in the leadership trail of Bharat Jagdeo that would lead anyone to the notion that his is one of these rare or scarce personality traits?

Among the most well known recipients of the Nobel Peace prize to Guyanese, are Civil and Human rights peace activists like the late Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter. These men embodied the personality and human character traits that Alfred Nobel was probably thinking of when he set down the basic standards under which

the peace prize should be awarded.

They were men whose world view was unencumbered by the kind of prejudices that inundate the thought processes of too many of us. They were endowed with an intellectuality that allowed them to infuse the sacred human emotions of sympathy and empathy into their perspectives and enunciations, even when the current social environment was divisively charged and marred by recriminations and violence. They were men who clearly possessed the moral and ethical courage to approach the times of their struggles with the principles that shaped their character. Principles that embody the notion that equality, justice, fairness and peace were inseparable as concepts and goals in any struggle or activism for democracy.

Cognizance of the mindset Alfred Nobel brought to the bequeathing of this award was reflected in the conclusion of Martin Luther King’s acceptance speech, where he proclaimed that, “…I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its genuine true owners – all those to whom beauty is truth and truth is beauty —and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds, or silver or gold”.

How divorced from that idea, that precept, is the conduct of a Government under the Presidency of Nobel Peace Prize candidate Bharat Jagdeo that generated the complaint from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jimmy Carter that, “……the administration remained wedded to ‘a winner take all’ concept that continues to polarize many aspects of the nations’ life”.

That quote is credited to the SN Guyana Review article captioned “Politics…The Davies Doctrine, and which also asked the question, “Who is to be blamed for the decline in governance?”

When a sinking ship is bailed out and put under new captaincy, how long does that captaincy have to be in command before it is prepared to accept responsibility for the arrival of such vessel at a destination that is a consequence of its absolute control over navigation?

Regardless of the rapturous enthusiasm of the cheering section for Mr. Jagdeo as a result of news of his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, there is nothing in his social and political background that stands him out as an enthusiastic champion of peace, and thus a valid candidate for that award. Not when Mr. Jagdeo chose to stand before a homogeneous ethnic audience at Babu John and make the inflammatory proclamation that should the opposition win they would issue AK-47s to terrorists and criminals. Not after the deprecatory and puerile response that issued forth from the President and his Government after the news that African Activist Ronald Waddell had been assassinated. Not after blatant official ignoring of the operation of vigilante lynching squads allegedly led by a minister of the Government at the time, and a well known drug trafficker.

That this candidate for a Noble Peace Prize out rightly rejected findings and recommendations with respect to the Guyana situation from a slew of experts, including UN representatives, and Sir Michael Davies who, according to the SN article, was an experienced, qualified and respected civil servant, is further evidence of his ineligibility for that prestigious award.

It would be great for a son or daughter of our nation to join the ranks of those internationally recognised as sterling advocates for peace. But they should be eminently qualified for such an award, and their candidacy should not be put forth in an effort to massage and masturbate ethnic or political egos.

We will produce stalwarts and activists who are recognised as disciples for peace when ethnicity and political affiliation cease being the determining factor in our every selection of right and wrong, good and bad, worthy and unworthy. In his Inaugural Presidential speech, Nelson Mandela intoned before an audience representative of the diversity of South Africa that, “…..We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world”.

And throughout his presidency, Nelson Mandela’s attitude and approach to governance was a manifestation of that covenant into which his Government had entered. That there has never been even a close approximation of this in Guyana is testament to the fact that our politics is constructed on a winner take all foundation. That political opportunism and thirst for power trumps concerns about inclusiveness, equality and justice. That the shallow issuance of words and phrases that venerate the values of democracy are just token contributions to a fad, to the illusion that we are One People, One Nation and One Destiny, when we are in reality nations within a nation, very separate, and very unequal.

Robin Williams