The coalition government needs space to grow

Jul 16, 2015 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
Albert Einstein said that ‘for human beings to survive and move forward, a new way of thinking is needed’.
The coalition government presents a new way of thinking, doing government, governing and hopefully a new way of engaging the various groups and networks, institutions, organizations and individuals in Guyana and beyond. This I think is great for Guyana. After almost 60 years of rift, this is the closest we have gotten in putting an arrangement in place to govern in a cohesive and inclusive way.
Nevertheless, recently there have been concerns about the coalition government. I have read the writings in the press and have been engaged in numerous conversations over the past month and a half about whether this ‘coalition idea’ will work.
My response is that, it will work if we, the Guyanese people and the leadership make it work. The success of the coalition will take work, hard work! Don’t let us fool ourselves into believing that this is going to be a walk in the park. Oh no, it will not be.
Let’s look at a few reasons why the success of the coalition will be a challenge.
Firstly, the coalition is made up of human beings, who are limited by time, space and knowledge, and a great part of their learning will be derived from making mistakes and learning from those mistakes and hopefully becoming wiser as they progress. Hence, we need to give our leaders (these human beings) the space to make mistakes and learn from them; space to fall down and get back up again.
Secondly, the APNU+AFC coalition government is a partnership consisting of various parties that were individual organisations prior to 11 May. While they would have engaged each other before and collaborated on various activities, whether it was on parliamentary matters or other, they have never really worked together as one organization before. Having won the last Elections, the partnership was institutionalised. They now have one institutional arrangement – the coalition government, through which they will operationalize the partnership; and there is no magic wand that could make this arrangement succeed without challenges.
The answer is in how highly skilled the leaders in the coalition government will become. Thus, I like the idea of the ‘Coalition Building Forum’ that is scheduled for July and I hope that there will be several of such and leadership forums.
Most organizations go through a natural process of growth, they are birthed, they mature and can die; the fourth stage, however, is the re-birthing stage. The coalition government has just been birthed. Let’s give our leaders space to grow, while at the same time, keeping them on their toes.
Thirdly, the coalition government as a group will experience the dynamics of any group – forming, storming, norming and performing. After the Cummingsburg Accord was signed the forming started. They campaigned together and won the Elections. Then the forming progressed to another stage when the partnership was institutionalized after 11 May.
Even during the campaign, the parties went back to their separate offices, had their own power and control and managed their own organizations but now, they have to share that power and control and manage together, and this is a whole new dynamic. They are now setting boundaries, learning boundaries, personalities, leadership styles, making adjustments, compromises, observing each other, etc; this while, still trying to govern and address all of the other issues and challenges.
I get the sense that while they are in the forming stage, they are also somewhat in the storming stage. It is in the storming stage that a group, in this case the coalition government, has to be very careful, sensitive and sensible; many groups fall apart in this stage. Nevertheless, if groups can make it through the storming stage, there are still two more stages, norming and performing.
I am paying very keen attention to President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. Keen attention meaning – to what they say, how they say it, when they say it, both their verbal and non-verbal communication, and my conclusion so far, is that these are two of the most mature leaders we have had. They are conscious of the issues but are very mature, and I respect that. This maturity also gives one a sense of confidence and assurance that they will make the coalition work. Some people would say that they are ‘high definition’ Leaders, well, I sincerely hope so.
Fourthly, while comments are made about possible breaches in the Cummingsburg Accord, and I have heard and read of various courses of actions which are recommended to be taken, consideration must always be given to the spirit of the Accord – the greater good of the country.
Fifthly, as citizens and leaders, there needs to be an awareness of our strengths and weaknesses as a people. Based on an assessment of our behaviour, I have placed us into five categories: initiators, coordinators, implementers, thinkers/strategists and finishers. One of the reasons we have not progressed as we should and as a country in the way some other countries have progressed, is because we are more initiators than finishers; also, while we do some kind of thinking, it is more cunning and crafty thinking.
We have to push beyond just starting things – as in this case the coalition government – and develop the necessary skills to use this opportunity of the coalition government, to coordinate our development well, implement it well, do more clever and sustainability thinking, more solution-oriented thinking, develop clever strategies, so that we can have a good finish. We have to transition from just starting things to becoming finishers, we are woefully lacking on the finish; we are not finishing well!
Finally, it is imperative that for the coalition government to succeed, the leaders have to be open to and participate in training, more training and yet more training!
Audreyanna Thomas

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