THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED DAYS

Mar 13, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

---

 

The first one hundred days of the Donald Ramotar presidency have passed quickly. Things have not moved at supersonic speed but neither have they been stagnant.
Change was always going to be less dramatic given the circumstances under which the new president took office. Without a parliamentary majority, the president was always going to have things tough. In spite of this, and in his own unassuming but deliberate way, the new president has been settling in and setting his own agenda.
It has not been as many had expected, but the political situation is mainly responsible for determining the pace and nature of the changes so far. The first days of the new presidency, as were the first one hundred days, were dominated by the hysterics of the opposition.
First it was street protests, complaining about the results of the elections, and later it was a betrayal of the national unity when APNU and the AFC teamed up to try to dominate and control the parliament, beginning with the disregarding of political conventions and then the alleged breach of the standing orders of the assembly in the composition of committees.
Despite the disgusting and disgraceful conduct on the part of the parliamentary opposition, despite it acting in bad faith and thereby undermining the progress that had been made in the tripartite process, the government remained committed to reaching out to engaging the opposition, but made it clear that there were limits to what would be tolerated.
There were clear overtures made to the opposition. These were unfortunately squandered in the mad grab for control and domination in the parliament.
The natural response would have been for the government to break off talks with the opposition. However, the president has continued to leave the door open to dialogue and discussion. Once this mature attitude exists and better sense prevails on the part of the parliamentary opposition, then progress can be made in due course.
The government has already demonstrated that it will not be supine in the face of the antics by the opposition. The failure of the minister of finance to meet with their representatives to discuss proposals for the annual Budget is an indication of the government‘s displeasure about the opposition‘s rejection of the financial bills.
Despite these difficulties, there remains optimism that the continued talks between the government and the opposition will eventually lead to improved relationships. And this optimism is borne out of the personality of the president who has come across as someone who is a good listener and who is genuinely committed to the well-being of the country.
The first one hundred days have also seen a clear move on the part of the president to ensure that the gap that had developed under the Jagdeo presidency between the party and the government is narrowed. This explains the appointment of a number of party stalwarts and persons close to Ramotar as ministers. The party is now closer to the exercise of power, having become estranged from government during the rule of Bharrat Jagdeo.
The move to align the party closer to government also represents a form of consolidation by the president of his political base within the executive. Through this move, he has shown that he is also a very astute politician.
What we are witnessing is the slow and measured unraveling of Jagdeo’s political infrastructure within the government and eventually within the PPP. That infrastructure is still very much alive within the state media and in official policy towards the private media. These are the areas in which the president has clearly disappointed.

But he has also distanced himself from his predecessor in terms of how certain matters are handled. The new president has stamped his authority on some of the projects signed under the government of his predecessor, and which have attracted great controversy.
Within the first one hundred days of his presidency, Donald Ramotar terminated the contract of the individual who was assigned to build the road to the Amalia Falls Hydroelectric Facility. And amazingly, many of the investors who were not keen to open up to the media, have suddenly been willing to speak and defend their investments. So there has been a change of attitude as the president has pressed forward with these investments.
Two individuals who also held critical positions in important government projects have also suddenly indicated a desire to move on. One in fact has already resigned and the other is about to. Things are therefore being done differently.
The president, however, is not going to dump these projects that have attracted so much public attention. He has made it clear that Guyana needs hydroelectricity, ethanol and an extended runway to allow bigger aircraft to land in Guyana. He is pressing forward with these plans, as he is with oil exploration. His greatest challenge would be to convince the detractors of these projects that Guyana’s best interests have been served in these deals. He is on his way to doing this. If there is anyone who can win over the confidence of the Guyanese people, who can convince them that under him things will be different, it is Donald Ramotar.
He has endeared himself to some of the fiercest critics of the government. His first one hundred days saw him taking a totally different approach to criticism and opposition than his predecessor did. He has met with some of the government’s staunchest critics and won over – at least for the time being- some of those who had felt that he would have been a puppet president. He has impressed with his sincerity and more so with his willingness to listen and to offer explanations.
But while he is willing to listen, he has also read the riot act to the Guyana Police Force and called on them to ensure that corruption is rooted out. In so doing, he has gotten to the heart of the reasons for the underperformance of the police in Guyana.
Instead of being patronising with the police and promising them this and that, he has made it clear that he wants to see corruption rooted out. All that was missing was for him to have indicated that if there are no results, what would be the implications.
There were many who were predicting that he would have prevailed on the Commissioner of Police staying on the job in the face of damaging allegations. But he did the right thing and accepted the move of the Commissioner to proceed on leave. He has not prejudged the commissioner and this again sees him acting politically correct.
The first one hundred days have therefore been encouraging. Given therefore that the president has been hogtied to a number of controversial deals signed under the rule of his predecessor, and also is being held back by the lack of a parliamentary majority and an opposition, the first one hundred days have seen a decent start by a minority government.
Obviously, some people expected more and perhaps in the next one hundred days, presuming that his Budget is passed, we will see more being done.
Donald Ramotar has shown that he has the country’s interest at heart and is an honest and decent man. Such men always do good.

---

---