FREENESS LEADS TO CONFUSION

May 28, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

There was no walkout by the opposition at the flag- raising ceremony of last Wednesday. The opposition parliamentarians and their spouses left as any decent person would do after it was clear that there was no seating available for them.

The opposition turned up as a group to demonstrate that as a party they were supportive of Guyana’s Independence and that their participation was not a token gesture. They came well bedecked and they came as a group.
They were invited; they did not turn up uninvited. They were guests of the government.
They did not cater that the government would have made the same mistake that was made last year. The experience of the inauguration ceremony last year should have forewarned the government that there were going to be problems with VIP seating. In Guyana, all kinds of people arrogate to themselves VIP status. It was clear from the images shown on television that there were office workers, market vendors and party hacks who felt that they were important enough to be in the VIP stands. And they were.
It was clear that there simply was never going to be enough seats for many of the VIPs. It is unreasonable to ask a former President to be seated when most of his comrades had to be standing in the passageway. This was shown on television. No self-respecting leader or manager will condone such a situation. You have to show some consideration for your comrades.
Persons can pontificate about standing for Guyana even though you were not seated, but those who pontificate were seated, and comfortably too.
There was obviously a problem with too many persons being allowed in or being given passes to the main pavilion. This always happens in Guyana because people know people, who know other people who can arrange for them to be admitted into the VIP section. Last May, there was a similar problem at the National Stadium but that location was big enough for people to find alternative seating. The same could not happen with the limited seating in the VIP section.
The opposition has not made this a political issue. They have not tried to embarrass the government. They were the ones who were embarrassed. They merely explained why they left so as not to convey the impression that they were not willing to participate.
If you invite me to a party, and there is no space for me. I am sorry but I will leave.
The PPP may have read, given the nature of Guyanese politics, some devious motives into the fact that their parliamentarians could not be seated. The representatives of the present government, when they were in the opposition, were never subject to that sort of treatment and therefore the PPPC may have felt that there was an attempt to embarrass them in front of a mainly pro-government crowd.
Things went wrong. The seats were not sufficient and the opposition had no choice but to leave. They explained why they left. It should have been left at that.
But this is Guyana and there are persons who could not resist putting a spin on the issue. What was disgusting was the spin that was put to the issue by a senior member of the media fraternity who wickedly tried to suggest that the opposition were not willing to wait for seats to be found. There was no way seats were going to be found for them. The entire place was crowded.
The opposition waited fifteen minutes which was fifteen minutes too long and then left. The opposition had no choice but to leave. They had to leave. What would you have done? Stand up and block the passageways?
The matter is ended but there are issues to be resolved. Those same issues were raised after the fiasco at the National Stadium last May at the inauguration of the President where non- dignitaries found their way into the section reserved for VIPs and special invitees.
The other problem is that most of the Jubilee events at which patrons had to pay, except for the concert on May 26 at the National Stadium were poorly attended. But the flag-raising was free.
Once it is free then more people will come than you can accommodate. And that was part of the problem on Wednesday night.

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