War by other means

Apr 12, 2013 Editorial

In his classic book, “On War”, Carl von Clausewitz famously posited that war is merely the continuation of politics by other means. In Guyana, it would appear that our politicians are determined to practice politics as war by other means.

The budget, as the instrument that implements the other aphorism that “politics is who gets what, how and when”, has become the latest battleground in this war.
There had been widespread hope after November 2011, that the election results would have forced the warring political forces to cooperate in the governance of our country. The results were so evenly matched, with the PPP controlling the Executive branch and the combined Opposition (APNU plus AFC) controlling the Legislative Branch, that very few could conceive they would continue with their confrontational style. The smaller Opposition party, the AFC, even spoke of voting either with the government or its fellow Opposition party, depending on the issue. Under the new dispensation, non-cooperation would have been a surefire way of ensuring gridlock in governance.
But sadly that is exactly what has happened. We will not rehearse what transpired over the last year, but we hoped that some lessons were imbibed that would have guided the actions of the politicians in the consideration of this year’s budget. But from the manoeuvres that followed the unfortunate illness that has evidently temporarily incapacitated one MP from APNU, Richard Allen, it does not appear as if that is the case.
Whether Mr. Allen was pressured to resign (as the PPP claims) or he did so voluntarily (as APNU claims) his action was conceded to have been precipitated by concerns that the Opposition needed all their forces in Parliament. Those concerns were exacerbated by the PPP’s reaction to Allen’s absence, to ensure the presence of their bereaved MP Vindhya Persaud during the vote on the timing of consideration of the budget estimates. The Opposition, in an unprecedented move, wanted to defer the consideration of the budget line items for a week.

Allen’s absence and Persaud’s presence brought the two forces into equilibrium and into a stalemate.
But the battle was soon transferred to another theatre – the Business Sub-Committee of the Parliament, where the Opposition had the majority to carry the day. By the time their recommendation reached the floor of the House, APNU already had their replacement for Allen sworn in.

They had amassed their full strength for what they obviously see as another battle, which they ‘won’.
The point we are making is that Mr. Allen’s unfortunate incapacitation presented the Government and the Opposition with another opportunity to lay down their weapons and work together to build Guyana. But this has been deliberately ignored. It is still our hope, however, that even at this late stage, good sense will prevail and the two sides will used the extra days to revive the Tripartite talks and arrive at a consensus on the Budget. As Margaret Thatcher said in similar confrontational circumstances, “There Is No Alternative – TINA”.
What are the options before the Opposition-controlled Parliament? The provisional ruling by the Chief Justice that individual line-items cannot be reduced or cut is still in place. While the leader of the Opposition indicated that he would appeal the ruling, for whatever reason (maybe because it is not ‘final”) he has not done so.

In such a case the Opposition would be in contempt of the court if they were to proceed with such cuts. While there is not much the court can do as far as sanctions are concerned, it would not do the Opposition’s cause any good to treat an equal part of the government (the Judiciary) with such lack of respect.
Just as importantly, the electorate is becoming quite fed up with the continued war of attrition and the rising sentiment is ‘a plague on both houses’. We believe that cooperation on the Budget will allow the stocks of all politicians to rise. It has been said that there are no victors in war and this is doubly true when the war is waged within a family.

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