Working together

Oct 17, 2010 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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By Dominic Gaskin,

Treasurer and National Executive Committee member

For the average Guyanese, the amount of money that will be spent by the PPP/C government on maintaining its incumbency at the next national election is impossible to conceptualise.  For those whose thankless task it is to legitimately oppose and depose their underperforming rulers, this amount is impossible to match.  When we throw in the additional billions required to fund GECOM’s administering of the elections process, it becomes clear that democracy is a costly affair.
With such a hefty price tag, one would expect the citizens of Guyana to be much more politically empowered than is currently the case.  Instead, for the last fifty years, elections have routinely done little more than maintain one or the other deteriorating government in power far beyond its shelf-life.
As a people we do not seem to have learnt the art of using an election to hold governments accountable.  Admittedly this was not possible for a number of years, but surely we the people are now better equipped to change governments as we see fit.  Why then are we so scared to do so? Why is it that no matter how incompetent, corrupt or abusive the PPP/C becomes, they are still given another term to become more incompetent, more corrupt and more abusive? Not at all value for money.
Few can disagree that the 1992 election was a special election. However, the renewed confidence and hope that it brought has long since worn off, and it is now time for a change in government.  I really do believe this; and even if 51 per cent of the Guyanese population can look me in the eye and tell me that what they would really like to see is another term in office for the PPP/C, I shall continue to believe this.
Am I questioning the will of the majority of the people?  No.  I am simply questioning the sanity of a system that creates governments that at any one time cannot look nearly half of their citizens in the eye and even wish them a good day.  I am questioning the winner-takes-all approach to this nation’s governance which has not worked, does not work and will not work.  I am questioning the commitment to our national interests of those who have had the opportunity, but flatly refused to consider any kind of power-sharing options during their terms in office.
The concept of power-sharing is not new.  In its most simple form it involves the sharing of the cabinet portfolio with political parties that have gained more than a specified amount of parliamentary seats.  In Guyana, such an arrangement can only occur with the acquiescence of the party that has won the election, since there is no obligation, even without a majority of the votes cast, for it to give up any of the spoils of its victory. Given their obvious rejection of this or any other model of shared governance, the PPP/C will have to be pressured into making the necessary commitments on this issue.  Political parties rarely respond to direct pressure from other political parties, so for power-sharing to take effect in Guyana, civil society will have to play a role.
The Alliance For Change has embarked on a process of engagement aimed at developing a political agenda that falls within the scope of involvement acceptable to a broad section of the various civil society groups and members present in Guyana.  It is my fervent hope that the issue of shared governance – with all the benefits accruing to our troubled nation – will find its way onto this agenda, and that civil society will address it with all the urgency, resolve and courage it deserves. If an end is to be sought to the winner-takes-all politics of Guyana, civil society must stand up in sufficient numbers and demand it.
On the political front, the Alliance For Change has made it clear that it will not seek a pre-election political alliance with either the PPP/C or the PNCR, and this position has been misleadingly expressed by persons outside of the AFC as a blunt and permanent refusal on its part to work with either of these two parties.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We are prepared to work with these two political parties in order to achieve a shared governance solution to what many consider a national crisis that cannot endure another term of single party rule, regardless of who wins the election.
We have always recognised the need for a multi-party government, as the following extract from our 2006 party document on operations methodology indicates:
….  SO AS TO ENSURE UNITY IN THE NATION, WHEN ELECTED, AFC WILL FORM AND OR PARTICIPATE IN A GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY AND DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING ALL RACES AND ELECTED PARTIES ….
In a few weeks we will name our presidential candidate and we note that the selection process is well underway in both the PNCR and PPP/C.  It is important this time around that a field of responsible and independent thinkers is put forward by all contesting parties, for this needs to be another “special election”; an election that will restore hope and confidence to all Guyanese, regardless of which party wins.  An election that brings an end to the madness of winner-takes-all politics that has taken us nowhere for a long time, and will not take us anywhere anytime soon.  An election that brings immediate change by instantly creating a multi-party shared government that can restore order to our troubled land. An election that will finally give us Guyanese some value for the outrageous sums about to be expended.
Crime and security have been cited as the number one concern of most Guyanese citizens.  It will take more than any one party to solve this problem. We in the Alliance For Change have promised the people of this country that we would deliver a new political culture, and we are in the process of doing so.  We never said we would do this alone, nor do we wish to.

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