Chant down Babylon!

Mar 25, 2010 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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My goodness! Oh, my goodness! The things that come out of the mouth of the ruling politicians. Is there another set of people that run a country like what we have here in Guyana? There is an ancient saying as old as Babylon itself – when you don’t know what to say, shut your mouth.
The logic is simple – you end up embarrassing yourself. Mr. Donald Ramotar, responding to the likelihood of the opposition boycotting the local government elections because there are no changes in the local government template over the past umpteen decades, urged the other contestants to participate then after the poll, reform can be discussed.
A person from Mars would accept that position if he/she didn’t know that local government reform has been stalled for years now. That is the reality. Why would anyone believe that after the polls, resumption of negotiations will take place? In fact, it will not. If the PPP wins, then it will not be interested in changing the configuration because it has both central and local power. What else does it need?
If the opposition wins, the ruling party is not going to implement far reaching changes that allow local authorities to have independent power. The collapsed task force came about because of the morbid rejection by the PPP of the theoretical blueprint that allows for constitutional liberalism as spelt out in the theory of Fareed Zakaria. By constitutional liberalism we mean the rule of law and human rights among other values.
The consolidation of institutions through which freedoms are guaranteed is a policy-direction that the PPP will not concede. The PPP has gone beyond the only authoritarian system the Anglo-phone Caribbean has known – the Burnham Government. When one assesses the breakdown of the local government task force one must examine the process in a holistic way. The dissolution had to occur because the PPP leadership does not accept constitutional liberalism.
It will only concede democracy which is the contest for power through the open ballot. And it accepts the existence of this mechanism because it believes ethnic voting gives it sempiternal governorship. This government that has now dissolved the sacred concept of the separation of powers by empowering the DPP to overturn the decisions of judges and juries will not accept the authority of local municipalities to have their own financial mechanism.
Faced with the insult that they will win local power but will not have meaningful power, the opposition parties (except Mark Benschop’s Independent Party) may stay away from the polls. This is a road it should not travel. Because the national elections may be held this year and must be held next year, the opposition will catapult itself into a political cul-de-sac if it boycotts the local government elections.
Here are some brief reasons. First, it allows the PPP to have absolute power, which it doesn’t have at the moment because it cannot win some very important cities. In control of New Amsterdam and Georgetown municipalities, the PPP will take billions from the Treasury to sweeten citizens and that is a big risk factor. They may actually buy votes for the real showdown next year.
Secondly, the election puts the electorate face to face with their politicians and it allows for an interaction process that will bring political capital to the opposition when national elections come around.
Thirdly, the turn out will tell the opposition just how much work it has to do for the big contest to come. Fourthly, the campaign will trigger the election fever in people and that is good for the opposition because the issues to be discussed are more detrimental to the ruling party.
This is a huge, almost colossal gift to the opposition. It will have the golden opportunity to confront elected dictatorship. Someone like Mark Benschop will have a precious moment to whip up the emotions of citizens in a country where political apathy has virtually killed the optimism of the citizenry.
Of course that election fever will linger in the air because the real Mc Coy is around the corner.
Finally, a victory at the local government election will provide both the citizenry and the opposition parties with a psychological elevation that they so desperately need. It will signal to the population that the nation wants the PPP out. It will galvanize both population and opposition parties to work for the dénouement hopefully in 2011.
The opposition has to go out there and contest the local polls and denounce King Kong, talk about the Midas Touch in reverse and chant down Babylon. As Michael Jackson sang, “I’ll be there.”

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