Recognising the power of compromise

Oct 31, 2013 Editorial

A few days ago, we had cause to remind the government that there is something called compromise. Generally, governments operate under the principle that that have been elected to lead and in the process, they chart their own course.
More often than not, the governments do not consider opinions unless these come from people associated with the government. Petty politics often cause the governments to shy away from opposition considerations. The claim is that there is the likelihood that the opposition would take credit and repeat this claim for political gain on the campaign trail.
There are governments that have checks and balance often dictated by the voter. For example, in the United States a political party may win the presidency but could lose the Congress and the Senate. This could hinder the powers of the President.
The electoral system, of course, is different from what operates in Guyana. The politician is elected by the people based on his ability to represent their interests. Regardless of the political party to which he belongs, his primary responsibility is to his constituency. Party affiliation takes second place.
That is why, for example, President Barack Obama had a torrid time getting both the Congress and the Senate to approve of his package called Obamacare. In Guyana there is no constituency; the elected politicians are firmly with the party which in turn dictates the general course for the political party. And the political party is unyielding. More often than not, unless forced the political party operates on its unilateral and unidirectional course.
In Third World countries unless needed, the government would operate without any consideration for that section of the population represented by the opposition. Guyanese more often than not have had the misfortune of witnessing the politics of confrontation. Debates are full of rancour and in the end, the side with the majority would win. The situation is worse if the government enjoys a two-thirds majority.
This situation is a recipe for the total disregard of the opposition.
When Suriname used a gunboat to remove an oil rig that was operating in Guyana waters there was unanimity among the politicians. Speaking with one voice the politicians rose to the defence of the country.
It was the same when there were incursions by Venezuela. Again there was unanimity. Such was their togetherness that the casual observer would have concluded that in Guyana the parliament enjoys a singularity of purpose. But that is a charade.
Until the advent of the minority government everything proposed by the government was passed as a foregone conclusion unless there were contentious issues that the government had not fully ventilated. For example, when the opposition raised objections to some of the development programmes that the government was pursuing, the government merely listened and continued. The Skeldon sugar factory is one such.
With the minority parliament the government is forced to heed the opposition. However, old habits often die hard. The government seeks to operate as though it holds a majority. The Alliance For Change kept calling for the Public Procurement Commission. For ten years the very government ignored that call and continued as though nothing mattered. It had passed the Act to allow for the operation of the Commission but it made no move to put the commission into being.
Calls were ignored but now the commission is about to be a reality and only because the AFC kept holding its establishment as bargaining chip. The government wants to pass the anti-Money Laundering legislation but it does not have the ability to without the support of one of the opposition parties. Months after attempting to bully its way through and getting nowhere it has at last recognized that it has to give to get.
But even the giving seems to be conditional because the AFC is now saying that the government wants to modify the Public Procurement Commission legislation and if it does this then there would be no compromising vote.
The PPP Government is still to learn that opposition parties in parliament are more than fixtures.

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Recognising the power of compromise

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