Looking Forward

May 15, 2015 Editorial, Features / Columnists

---

Looking forward, it would be gratifying to observe the efforts by the newly-elected cadre of Coalition leaders trying consciously and genuinely to create a new direction for Guyana. This was one of several campaign promises made by the Coalition. This charting of a new direction is an unspoken admission that the outgoing administration has failed and is not worthy of emulation.
Indeed, when the period of 2000-2015 is carefully analyzed, among the questions that will be asked: Why was the government so pathetically ineffectual in responding to the needs of the people? Why was there no proper response to the hundreds of extra-judicial murders between 2001 and 2006? Why weren’t there government policies consciously tailored to end corruption?
Was the government so obsessed with power that it could not distinguish objectively the interest of the people? Or was it so enamored with corrupt practices that after more than two decades it was unable to muster the courage to help the masses for fear of offending rich friends?
Whatever the explanation, it is significant that the newly-elected Coalition resolved to adopt a more active and genuine role as the people’s representatives and to give this task its highest priority. Commendable as this may be, it would be a grave mistake for the leaders of the new government to assume that their victory alone and their heightened assertiveness by itself are sufficient to reverse the damage inflicted upon the nation by a government which lacked the moral fortitude and political will to unite the races and develop the country in the interest of all.
We believe that much of the failure of the outgoing administration to respond effectively to the needs of the people might have been the lack of good governance which caused the leaders to act recklessly with the country’s finances and natural resources.
But there is nothing to suggest that the new crop of Coalition leaders is any more insulated from the same situation than their predecessors. While they have shown a willingness to cure the ills of the country and reject the overt power of Government, an important task in their emergence as genuine representatives of the people will be to overcome the weaknesses and greed embedded in the outgoing administration.
A critical but important point in this regard will be for the leaders of the Coalition not to become obsessed with power or to become masters of the people. This will further destroy the psyche of the people and stifle the development of the country. They cannot, like their predecessors, simply concede to dictatorial rule and admit that there is no other choice to govern effectively.
This is why the word “change” holds such significance in society today. The efforts and sacrifices of those who worked hard to build Guyana and those who stood up for justice and equality must not be relegated to the waste bin. While it is fair to say that some of the people are much better off than their forefathers, there still remain a number of things to be done to bridge the widening poverty gap.
The past 15 years of PPP rule have been anything but good. It was a trying time for many, especially for workers, in that much of what the labour unions have fought for has been rescinded by the high-handed approach of the PPP government, which for the past ten years has imposed a five percent annual wage increase on all workers.
It was a take it or leave it proposal without the approval of the uncharacteristically passive unions. It has been a rough journey for the people. With the election of the Coalition government, they can breathe a little sigh of relief.
The reality is that the people were under severe pressure given the toll of the country’s poor economic performance which resulted in high unemployment, especially among the youth. But even in those difficult times, belt-tightening was required for survival. It should be duly noted that the prosperity of Guyana and the growth of its economy depend not only on selected sections, but the entire population.
The message should be clear to all that the marginalization of a large section of the population will not lead to progress. As a people, we need to raise the level of productivity, earn more foreign exchange and reduce consumption of imported goods, especially food; and generally be able to pay for those things required by the people.
The Coalition government must move quickly to resolve these troubling issues that still negatively impact the economy and the people as a whole, reinforce good practices, and denounce and get rid of the existing bad ones. This is what our foreparents have fought for and stood up for. We cannot and must not flinch from our responsibilities.

---

---