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Empower People, not Politicians

Jun 29, 2012 Letters

Dear Editor,
Seven months into the new parliament, the opposition has not made much effort to empower the people. While the opposition has attempted to make the government more accountable in its expenditures, no effort has been made to reduce the powers of government and the opposition.
The opposition should use its majority to take powers away from the elected officials and return them to the people.
The Alliance for Change pointed out during the campaign that it was a party different from the PPP and PNC (APNU) and promised that it would move to reduce powers of the President and the central government and empower local government and let the people rule themselves.
Instead, the AFC has shown that it is no different from the other parties – it seems like it wants more power for itself than for the people. It has been almost seven months since Parliament was convened following the last elections and the AFC is showing that it is no different from the PPP and PNC – more of the same.
The AFC and PNC are comfortable with the current distribution of powers in which they are in charge and as such one does not expect them to advocate for change that will reduce their powers and empower the people. The AFC is supposed to be different from them and pursue legislation to benefit the nation and not the party elites.
The AFC seems to have forgotten that if a snap election is held and a party wins a majority of seats, we will return to the status quo.
Now is the time for the party to take advantage of its position and severely cut the powers of the President, Parliament, and government and put in place institutions that will make the people most powerful as in the US.
The AFC is yet to table legislation to cut the enormous powers of the President and the Opposition Leader and the central government.
The party had also promised to reverse the law that prevents crossing of the floor (or to vote on one’s conscience or not to follow the party line). Instead, the party is playing stupid like it never was against that law.
The party should cut a deal with the PNC, in any future cooperation, that the crossing of the floor act would be abolished. It should also seek to amend how M.Ps are chosen instead of the party leader selecting the M.Ps. The people should have a say in who is chosen as the M.P and each area should have a designated M.P to advocate its interests.
Unfortunately, the AFC is yet to use its new found powers to change the status quo of the dominance of the two large parties.
The AFC is yet to present legislation to change the fraudulent constitution replacing it with one with the people running the country not a small party elite.
The APNU leader recently complained that local government is not working but neither he nor APNU (PNC) has proposed any change to give powers to the local communities.
Instead, both the PNC and PPP want the central government to maintain control over all aspects of the peoples’ lives.
They don’t want to decentralize power. They distrust the people and don’t want powers taken away from the party leader and the center.
The country needs local government reform and the AFC, the party that is supposed to have a conscience against abuses of power, needs to keep its promises to pursue legislation to shift power away from the party elites and towards the people – empower the people.
So far, the AFC has shown that it is no different from the PNC and PPP which it seeks to replace as the ruler.
Vishnu Bisram

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