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Time for David Granger to explain how inclusionary democracy will work

Jul 28, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
It is fine to throw around ideas but there comes a time when people want a proper and detailed explanation of how these ideas will work, how they will be implemented, who will execute them, the costs and benefits to society at large, who will benefit from them, when will they be implemented, what are the key features and the consequences for the nation, positive and negative.
David Granger has been touting ‘inclusionary democracy’ and now, the ‘One Nation’ principle, taken from his mentor, Forbes Burnham. As the saying goes, talk is cheap. It can also be deceptive. The ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’ motto of the PNC and similar mantras from the PPP have been hollow, coming from race parties hell bent on ethnic division and absolute power. So, we have witnessed the uselessness of these mottos in the past.
There is no better time than this moment when Granger is up against his peers for the leadership of the PNC for him to stop the gobbledygook, sophistry and veiled language and tell the nation in plain terms what exactly is this ‘inclusionary democracy’ going to look like?
I have my reservations about this ‘inclusionary democracy’ bandwagon for the simple fact that I see the lack of details as  deliberate because any explanation will reveal this is just another power sharing attempt where elites from the main parties divide up the spoils.
Granger has to stop beating around the bush on this issue because I view this ‘inclusionary democracy’ talk as dangerous to Guyana if implemented without serious change in the various constitutional and institutional structures of this country. This ‘inclusionary democracy’ could lead to one party dictatorship, similar to China. It will lead to an enlargement of corruption if the political parties, mainly the PPP and PNC, remain unreformed and decide to share power.
Those dominating the parties will literally sit down and decide how to enrich themselves, their friends and families and exclude the majority, as happened under both the PNC and PPP governments. With only two of the four major ethnic groups having political parties, this arrangement will exclude Amerindians and Mixed Races who have no political movement of their own. These proposals without serious reforms at party, constitutional and national institutional levels will destroy an already fragile democracy and deepen ethnic passions in Guyana.
This concept of ‘inclusionary democracy’ peddled by Granger cannot have substance without profound constitutional change to prevent abuse and to prevent this country falling into one-party statehood. Even if a PNC government includes other parties and groups, it will still have the all-powerful presidency to override, bypass and mistreat those other groups at the table. Granger knows this fully well. So, any idea of power sharing or bringing a meritocratic semblance to use of power is hamstrung by this constitutional chain around its neck.
The grand masquerade on ‘inclusionary democracy’ is just political opportunism, cheap talk and intellectual trickery at work. It cannot work and should not be accepted in the present playing field. It is really an attempt by the PNC to expand its declining ethnic base and to capture crossover voters (Amerindians and Mixed Races) by presenting deliberately nebulous concepts that sound enticing but are impractical and quite dangerous given our current constitution. Those voters will not be easily conned. Granger has to provide details and lots of them.
I suspect Granger and his backers will not respond to this letter giving us concrete details because they have none. Granger should be demanding constitutional reform first and foremost, before any unclear ‘inclusionary democracy’ proposal. He sits on the Parliamentary Committee responsible for constitutional reform and has done nothing of substance in this area.
To suggest ‘inclusionary democracy’ without prior constitutional reform is political subterfuge and silliness. It is the same error Hoyte made when he left the constitution intact for the PPP, knowing the PNC would lose power.
M. Maxwell

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