Proposal for a new structure of governance in Guyana

Feb 27, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
There must be a solution to our governance problem. As I ponder on this, I am reminded of a song in the movie Sound of Music; ‘how do you solve a problem like Maria?’ The big question for us is how can we solve a problem like Guyana? What is the best governance solution for our country? I would like to share some of my thoughts on this.
All societies are constructed. Instruments such as a constitution, lays out a system of governance for many countries. Political parties, on the other hand, are structures of governance. They are really organizations which were established to implement the system of governance in most countries. In the Guyana context, the PPP and PNC are basically organizational structures which we have designed and developed and they acquire their authority to govern the country, through the electoral system.
Over the years, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that these two organizational structures have work to some extent but are yet far from being  successful, particularly as it relates to bringing us closer to achieving our motto; ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’.
One can conclude that both of these major parties have recognized the need to review and revise their organizational construct, hence they have been transforming overtime. The PPP as we know became the PPP/C, while the PNC became the PNC/R. The political landscape also include organisations such as; The United Force (TUF), Working People’s Alliance (WPA) , Alliance For Change  (AFC)  and most recently  APNU.
The current government, APNU/AFC is another chapter in our quest to find the best organizational structure to govern. I prefer to call the APNU/AFC government, an arrangement which was put in place as the structure of governance, called the government. It is more of an arrangement than an organization. However, there are some fundamental flaws with this arrangement some of which are similar to those of the PPP organization/government.
When we vote, we are basically putting the organizational structure that we think could best use the governance system (for e.g. the Constitution) and implement the best social, economic, political and cultural programmes. However, in my view, both the PPP and the PNC have never fully transitioned beyond being political parties representing their constituencies to become national parties, and therein is a fundamental problem.  I know that some would say that this is largely the nature of politics in many countries, political parties represent particular constituencies.
Nevertheless, I think that the APNU/AFC is the nearest we have gotten to putting an arrangement for a structure of governance together, to implement a better solution for transforming the political, economic, social and cultural landscape of the country.  However, we have seen that this arrangement also has challenges.
Having made so many adjustments to our structure of governance over the years and after 50 years and we are still very polarized, it is clear that no one party or person  is the solution to our governance issues.  It is against this background that I propose the following.
I would like to propose another arrangement of governance for 2020, this I call ‘One Party, One Term – Fix Guyana. This concept promotes a collaboration of all political parties, including the PPP as well as other sectors to form One Party. This Party will serve at the government for a period of One Term (five years) and its mission will be to ‘Fix Guyana’ during these five years. Technical expertise will be drawn from all parties and a framework for governing and development will be established.
Since it is a constitutional requirement to hold elections, and have parties contest those elections, in 2019, the citizens will sign a petition for submission to the National Assembly for the national elections be suspended for five years, from 2020-2025. In order for this petition to proceed to the National Assembly, it would require the signatures of seventy five percent of the electorate to sign the petition before it can be taken to the National Assembly.
In this case, it is a governance structure that was initiated by the ordinary citizens which they would like to be established and governed by for a specified a period. It is basically designing the governance structure and putting it to our leaders that this is what citizens would like to have in order to fix our country, instead of telling us that this is the structure of governance they are proposing through the current political organizational structure.
Leaders who will be a part of this system can be chosen from political parties and other sections of the society. Specific targets relative to economics, politics, culture, social, etc. will be established to be achieved between 2020 and 2025. A Council of Elders will also be appointed to provide strategic guidance, monitor, make recommendations and reprimand leaders. Finally, Albert Einstein said that “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution”.
 Audreyanna Thomas

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