THE PPP SHOULD HAVE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES

Aug 26, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The ruling party and the government are reading from different scripts at the moment. The government is engaging a former political hotbed, seeking reconciliation and healing. The ruling party is destroying whatever little gains are being made, by the use of language that is not helpful to what is taking place.
This shows the nature of the politics that is emerging from within Freedom House. Instead of supporting what the government is doing, instead of being conciliatory, the ruling party jumps on its usual bandwagon and announces that it has done more for Buxton than the PNCR and then trying to link the violence that emanated from that village years ago to possible links with the opposition.
It is not helpful to the government when the ruling party opens up in this way.
The ruling party was responding to criticisms made of an invitation to the president for him to visit that community, an invitation that was taken up. Following the visit, there have been strong criticisms made.
The ruling party has to learn when to ignore criticisms and when to comment. In the instance of the tirade over Buxton, it should have remained silent and allow time to take its course.
It was to be expected that the main opposition would have tried to dismiss the government’s interventions in Buxton. That village is a major opposition constituency and obviously the opposition wanted to say something about what was taking place.
The ruling party may have felt – in light of the onslaught that came from certain opposition quarters – that it had an obligation to respond. But its response, ought to have been better considered. It ought to have been more judicious in its choice of words, and tactically, should have avoided the old pattern of bashing the opposition by linking them to the criminals who had once found safe haven in that community. This is the old politics that is not going to be useful if the past is to be set aside in favour of building a new relationship.
Some members of Buxton have taken the initiative to engage rather than confront. Even if the latter option was chosen, engagement would have eventually had to be attempted. It is an unavoidable. What I think are the concerns of those who have criticized the government’s visit, is not the question of engagement, but whether Buxton is being used as a political football. Trust has to be built up and this takes time. Things do not always go right but it is important that when things go wrong, instead of casting blame easily, lessons are learnt and corrective action taken. It is not as if things are starting anew between the government and Buxton. So there are lessons to have been learnt over the past year. There have been a great many initiatives, especially in agriculture, ever since the backlands were cleared following the crime wave. There was a great deal of criticism when this happened but as time has shown, there has been some progress in putting farmers back to the land in that community.
There are going to be many challenges ahead. The backlands are deep and drainage and irrigation will present huge problems. But a start has been made and has to be built upon. Once there is a process in which all sides are willing to meet regularly and assess the progress made, then there will be progress.
The government has an interest in helping out. There are a number of well-meaning individuals who were concerned enough about the state of their village to try to do something to restore it. The government could not be a spectator in this process nor could they be left out of it. They had to be brought onboard and they have been brought onboard.
But the fear of political manipulation still remains. No doubt this fear is heightened since we are so close to national elections, and the timing of the recent interventions has created suspicions. Those who are genuinely concerned about this risk need to ensure that whatever is done is sustainable, and involves the participation of the villagers. Once the people are directly involved in the process, then it would easier for confidence to be built and less likely for manipulation to take place.
The challenge of all is for economic and social progress within that community. The challenge is for undoing any negative image and sour relationships.
Buxton was the apex of the political unrest that accompanied the 2001 elections. But it can also be the centre of reconciliation and a model for improved relationship between communities and the government.

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THE PPP SHOULD HAVE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES

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