The will of the people is what gives legitimacy to a government

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The will of the people is what gives legitimacy to a government

Nov 26, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
By proroguing Parliament, President Ramotar has in effect rendered the elected representatives of the people useless and the will of the majority irrelevant. In a democracy majority rules, yet the PPP believes that it is its constitutional right to foist the will of the minority on the majority – a belief they did not share before they became a minority government.
It is clear to me that the PPP has absolutely no intention of relinquishing power through the ballot box. Twenty years and still no sign of Local Government Elections says it all. In keeping with their plan, therefore, to hold on to power via the back door they have now resorted to constitutional gymnastics. In a democracy it is the will of the people (and not constitutional gymnastics) that gives legitimacy to a government.
The nation is getting very restive, and its patience is bursting at the seams. If the PPP continues to foist the tyranny of the minority on the majority then the people will have no option but to revolt. Let us learn from those who were engaged in bitter battles for freedom and democracy, and some of the great thinkers who walked this planet before us:
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. – Abraham Lincoln.
Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order. -John V. Lindsay
General rebellions and revolts of a whole people never were encouraged now or at any time. They are always provoked. – Edmund Burke
When all other rights are taken away, the right of rebellion is made perfect. – Thomas Paine
President Ramotar by proroguing has acted dictatorially and in bad faith. He has betrayed the spirit of the constitution as envisioned by its framers. What the President is in fact saying is that his power is superior to the will of the people. By so doing he is taking this country down a slippery slope. We need to abort this course if we really have the best interest of the people at heart.
The nation is getting very restive, and its patience is bursting at the seams. If the PPP continues to foist the tyranny of the minority on the majority then they will have no option but to revolt.
I trust that good sense will prevail and the President will reconvene parliament swiftly. We have reached a point where the electorate has to make a decision (via the ballot box) before all hell breaks loose.
The consequences of the failure to reconvene parliament will therefore rest squarely at the feet of the President and the PPP.
Artie Ricknauth

1 thoughts on “The will of the people is what gives legitimacy to a government”

SeeLochan Beharry November 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

Well said. Thanks,
Seelochan Beharry

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