Guyanese should never be denied an opportunity to hold our political parties accountable

Nov 01, 2014 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Please permit me to comment on a letter by Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye published in the October 28th edition of your newspaper. Mr. Ogunseye’s letter concerned an article I had written for the AFC’s weekly Kaieteur News column published on October 19th.
My article was clearly written, and the gist of it was that the PPP-C’s electoral invincibility is a myth and cannot be supported by available data. Mr. Ogunseye, however, has read beyond the lines and has gotten way ahead of me and what I was intending to communicate.
He quotes my statement “The party will enter its next election campaign in a much stronger position than it did in 2011 and will be targeting a plurality this time around” and interprets it to mean “the AFC is on track to win the next elections, and that above anything else is its ultimate objective.” He even suggests that the article may have been intended to “silence the critics of the AFC who question the party’s motivation for its no-confidence motion”.
Mr. Ogunseye seems reluctant to accept my assertion that the AFC’s No-Confidence Motion in the National Assembly “was a move to address a serious national crisis in which the Executive had grossly exceeded its authority over the public purse and was continuing to spend monies in blatant defiance of the constitutional safeguards and the people’s representatives”. He prefers to believe that the AFC are a bunch of political joy-riders with no real commitment to the future of Guyana. I wish to assure him that he is wrong.
The AFC has already stated why it saw no alternative to placing a motion of no-confidence before the National Assembly. The National Assembly has been debased by the actions of the PPP-C Government and can no longer effectively legislate. I am unclear as to what Mr. Ogunseye is proposing to address this crisis, but the AFC sees no point in continuing the charade and has acted decisively and responsibly.
Mr. Ogunseye goes on to outline a set of gloomy conditions which could see the PPP-C regain its majority. He therefore concludes that the “no-confidence approach is at best a high-risk political gamble and at worst, political recklessness”. He ought to be aware that every election is a political gamble and the fact that the wrong party can end up winning is a poor excuse for not going to the polls.
The AFC is presenting itself to the Guyanese public as a credible alternative to a government that is corrupt, incompetent, lawless and abusive. We are confident we can field a strong ticket that is appealing to the people of this country, and we know that an AFC President will have the support of enough competent persons to be able to form a better government than currently exists. We are therefore not afraid to face the people of Guyana,
I have a difficulty with Mr. Ogunseye’s closing sentence that “Elections will worsen the divisions in the nation and inflict new wounds.” He has not indicated whether this prognosis also applies to the elections which would otherwise have become due in two years time and, if not, what would have changed between now and then to lessen the threat which he describes. He also does not propose an alternative to the holding of elections.
Guyanese do not have a big say in how this country is run and periodic elections provide the only opportunity for the people to make important binding decisions. We may not have a perfect constitution, and all may not be fair in how our systems are applied, but the suggestion that elections are a bad thing ought not to be entertained at any level.
Guyanese should never be denied an opportunity to hold our political parties accountable – in particular when we are facing a national political crisis. GECOM costs us an arm and a leg to sustain and needs to be put to work more often. People the world over have fought and died, and continue to do so, for the right to elect their own governments. If Mr. Ogunseye believes that an election right now is too much of a bother or too much of a risk then perhaps he is not sufficiently dissatisfied with the status quo or has a better plan.
In less than three years in office the Ramotar Administration has shown a frightening disregard for the Constitution and total contempt for the National Assembly, and is now unraveling before our eyes.
The Guyanese people should now decide whether they wish to be governed by the rule of law or by the “far more effective means” being touted by the incumbent elites.
Dominic Gaskin

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