Latest update September 18th, 2026 10:25 AM
The twisted world of politics
The world of politics is full of twists and turns but most of all, it is full of politicians making one utterance then doing the exact opposite a short while later. Of course, we have seen this change among governments.
For example, before he died, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced to Guyana and to the rest of the world that his country has no design on Guyana. He also said that as friends, this country had nothing to fear in terms of military expansion and the threat of any invasion.
Guyana felt that it really had a friend in Venezuela and so it entered into agreements that were designed to help the country along its path of development. There was the PetroCaribe arrangement that saw Guyana paying a fraction of what it would have cost for its fuel. At the same time, Venezuela provided Guyana with its largest rice market.
Now all that has changed. For one, Venezuela is once again making moves to deny Guyana its right to some two-thirds of its territory. It has also revoked its rice agreement, choosing to join with Suriname, a neighbor to the east that also has designs on a portion of Guyana.
Even at home there have been numerous cases of vacillation. Back in the late 1970s, the late President Forbes Burnham stood on the political stage and adumbrated a three-phased programme of salary increases for the public servants. The people responded with rousing cheers but the day came when Burnham reneged. The largest of the increases were never paid.
Burnham then placed his volte face in the corner of the hydroelectric construction. Those old enough would recall the question, “Do you want the pay increase or do you want the hydro?”
Those are major reversals. There are others that come in the form of elections promise. Some political parties promise the moon and the stars once out of power. But from the moment they accede to office the promises fall by the wayside.
More recently, there was Bharrat Jagdeo, the former president of Guyana. During his tenure as President he signed the constitutional amendment that limits the terms of office of the President. Having done that, he demitted office in keeping with the constitutional requirement.
Some say that the lure of power is a great thing. Three years had barely passed before Jagdeo signaled that he was prepared to challenge the decision that limited his term. That issue went to the court which has since ruled that the decision to limit the terms of the president was unconstitutional. But on countless occasions, Jagdeo kept responding in the negative to questions about his willingness to run for the presidency at the end of his term limit.
It was the same just a few days after the May 11, 2015 elections. At one of the few press conferences he ever held, Jagdeo said that he was done with life in politics. He said that he had no intention to seek political office or to return to the National Assembly. The nation has since seen that one must not believe everything that comes from the mouth of the politician. Jagdeo has not only entered the National Assembly, he is also the Opposition Leader.
The new government is also being accused of reneging on some of the promises it made. People point to the promise of a hefty pay rise for public servants. This has not yet been forthcoming although the government says that it is examining the issue.
At issue here, is the fact that political leaders would develop ideas away from the reality. They then turn to the people with explanations. The reality is that the very politicians are not as forgiving when the shoe is on the other foot.
Perhaps it is now time for the people to be more exacting and less forgiving. But that would take a whole new culture.
Correction: During the week we identified the former Canadian Prime Minister as Stephen Fraser. The man was Stephen Harper.
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