Guyana’s 2011 Elections – “A Political Watershed”

Jan 03, 2012 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
The historic importance of the 2011 elections is yet to be played out, but what is irrefutably true is that the scourged politics of race which has bedevilled Guyanese politics since the 1950s will cease to feature as a political force in the future.
To be sure, this last vestige of a corrupted political heritage, of divide and rule, has finally been rejected by a significant section of the Guyanese electorate. And henceforth no political party can assume with any certainty that it is in an unassailable position to govern, on the basis of the racial make-up of the Guyanese electorate.
This cross over is now a political reality and the first in a string of changes which will inevitably lead to a realignment in the body politics of Guyana. From here on, all political parties will have to earn the support of what is now a mature and confident electorate, aware of its power to bring down governments that fail to act in the public interest and uphold reasonable standards of behaviour in public life. It is the generally accepted view that it was corruption in public life and contempt for the electorate that caused the defeat of the PPP.
Nineteen years of PPP rule has shown that with the best will in the world, the winner-take-all politics of Guyana and the undemocratic nature of the party, created the conditions which led to widespread corruption and the alienation of much of its grass root support and gives meaning to the saying that ‘power corrupts etc, etc.
Let us not forget that when the PPP eventually gained power in 1992, there was widespread support from all, but a hard core within the PNC, who were hopeful that at long last democracy would be given the chance to develop. After all, did the PPP not spend some 40 years claiming to be the defenders of democracy, while making the case that they were cheated out of office?
Indeed, ‘The West on Trial’, written by the late President Cheddi Jagan, was the ‘cause de celebre’ of that charge. Right up to this election they were claiming to be the sole defenders of democracy which would only exist if they were in government.
In fact this notion of democracy and the PPP is a central part of the politics of race, as it is based on the mistaken assumption that since Indo Guyanese make-up over 50% of the population, and since the PPP is their party, then it stands to reason that when the PPP is in power then that is fulfilment of the democratic creed.
By any stretch of the imagination the PPP lost the 2011 elections when it failed to secure more than 50% of the votes and therefore lost its majority in the National Assembly, the body responsible for passing laws. Irrespective of what they are now claiming, they are only holding on to power because of a fundamentally flawed constitution which allows the president to be elected with less than 50% of the votes.
The folly of this position is that Donald Ramotar could well have been elected with much less votes than the 48% he is said to have received. The fact is that the presidential candidate with the highest votes becomes president. So here we have a constitution which in the past was vilified by the PPP but since gaining power hailed as democratic and now legitimises their right to continue in office.
This action is the high of political arrogance, reminiscent of the Burnham years, and puts to bed the claim of the PPP as upholders and defenders of democracy in Guyana. This election is proving that when push comes to shove, the PPP have a lot more in common with the old guard of the PNC, and like them, will do everything to cling on to power.
As each day goes by they are losing creditworthiness, and locked as they are in an ideological straitjacket, will not enter meaningful power sharing discussions with either one of the other main parties, let alone, an all-embracing Government of National Unity. It follows that while the PPP has lost the elections, the opposition is yet to win it. To do so, it must win the argument that its cause is the people’s cause; that democracy is safe in its hand and moreover, it is the only guarantor of peace, freedom and prosperity for all Guyanese.
So the solution must be with the opposition parties. They must work together. So far they have shown vision and statesmanship. The time has come for them to make that decisive move and formally prepare a programme for government to include a National Dialogue on the approach needed for taking action to deal with corruption, ministerial accountability and financial and constitutional reforms.
Basil Bollers
London, England

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