Temper arrogance with understanding

Nov 25, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor:
In less than 100 hours the people of Guyana will go to the polls in what hopefully will be a free and fair election and an election free from fear and intimidation. This election will be a watershed one in the history of our Republic.
Though resident abroad I am hopeful, optimistic and full of belief in a peaceful and prosperous future for Guyana.
From all accounts this will be a close election with no single political party gaining 50 per cent of the votes cast. Of course it is never over until “the fat lady sings”….the last vote is counted. The lead up to this election has seen political rhetoric and “buse down” parlance from candidates and foremost from the President who is not a candidate. Political rhetoric, joblessness and poverty, disappointment fueled by inflated expectations and a prolonged breakdown in public safety are all issues which could fire up the population to act irresponsibly following the outcome of the election.
My sincere hope is that party supporters will be able to contain their jubilation when their party wins, those supporters of the losing parties will contain their disappointment and that the entire population will act responsibly, learning lessons from the 28 plus 19 years experience of government leadership or lack thereof, rather than being trapped by its past.
Obviously there are segments of the population that are angry about a whole lot- the phantom murders, perceived if not real widespread racial discrimination, the disparity in wealth especially as this relates to the pension of the President and much more. Whatever situation emerges following Monday’s poll I am confident the people of Guyana will exercise restraint and display discipline and love for one another regardless of political affiliation, race, religion and gender.
In the words of Dave Martins “we are a peaceful people struggling, we struggle” and we must be true to these words. The struggle will continue after November 28 but that struggle will be for the construction of a genuine decent and caring society where we each will be our brother’s keeper and we work together to transform the promise of our great country to progress and ultimate prosperity.
Vengeance is mine said the Lord and we must leave justice to those institutions responsible for meting out justice and ultimately up to the Lord.
We saw, recently, the anger of the people of Libya released in a barbaric way on an equally barbaric leader. We must ensure that whatever happens come next Tuesday, television footage such as that coming out of Libya never emanates from our dear land of Guyana. If one of the opposition parties wins the election, any action against President Jagdeo and PPP members and supporters suspected of wrongdoing must be taken through non-violent and legally established mechanisms.
If the PPP is returned to power it must resist any temptation to go after its opponents, particularly Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, Nigel Hughes and the host of others its pre-election “buse down” suggests have hurt them (the PPP) badly.
There should and must be no room for lawlessness, vindictiveness and reprisals after this election.Part of the responsibilities of the various international observer missions must be to ensure that winning and losing candidates and their respective supporters are not victims of violence and that an enabling environment is created for realizing the true potential of Guyana.
Wesley Kirton

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Temper arrogance with understanding

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