War may break out at City Hall after the LGE

Jan 29, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
It seems like the fight is on. With the nominations for Local Government Elections all turned in, battle lines have been now been drawn. And it does not look good. I witnessed what took place on Nomination Day. The young people with their animated supporters were out in their numbers and the fighting rhetoric has begun.
Divisive terms like “little axe to cut down big trees,” or “it is young people’ time” are been repeatedly and forcefully bantered about. The ammunition seems to be hurled at any and every one who is older than 30 years. It seems like those of the younger generation want to send the current administration a message. The talk is that the youths were not sufficiently represented in the administration at the national level, so with the easy possibility of access to administration at the local levels, the youths have upped the ante.
They are spouting that it the youths who helped bring the current administration into government and it is the youths who will unseat the current attempts of the ‘old-heads’ to get back into the councilors’ positions. They seem convinced that the Mayors, at least the Mayor of Georgetown, should be a youth.
However, the reason I say that this kind of angry rhetoric does not sound good, is because of what it can lead to. It can lead to another divisive body at the municipal level. Already the country is observing the vitriol and the hatred and non-cooperation that are obtaining in the National Assembly.
Now the youths are saying that it is their turn to ‘run things’. Imagine for a brief moment if one of the ‘old-heads’ wins the Mayorship. It sounds like it would be war. If the trend holds, especially with the younger folks more excited about the Local Government Elections, the councilors will be made up of a significant amount of youths. However, because of the proportional representation aspect of the elections, the larger parties will have councilors who are not likely to be youths. This could be a recipe for administrative disaster at the local level.
As an ‘old-head’ independent candidate, I would like to see the divisive rhetoric turned down because it is a non-starter. Frankly, I applaud the interest and the organization of the youths and their groups. They are young people in leadership all over the world. However, if we begin with a fight it is obvious that nothing much, if anything, will get done at the local level. Heaven knows, we cannot afford to replicate at the local government level, the warring and verbal slaughtering which now obtain at the national level. Guyana can ill afford that.
Pastor W. P. Jeffrey
Independent Candidate 8th Constituency

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