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The collective force of “We the People”
Dear Editor,
The Parking Meter saga was a political red herring of sorts. It has received wide support because it gave people an area to vent. Persons bridged the political divide to picket the City Hall because they were able to find common ground on a local issue.
I say that the parking meter saga is a red herring of sorts because if we were to step back, we in Guyana could find a dozen things to picket about that are way more significant than the parking meters. For example there is the shortage of drugs and the crime wave. Just this weekend some men tied up the security guard at the Durban Backlands Millicent Greaves Old People’s home and broke into the container that the overseas missionaries are using to house their equipment and other important and valuable stuff.
We also have the festering issue of Constitutional Reform. Guyana has a constitution that has kept us racially and politically polarized for over 50 years. It has also been used to exert force tantamount to dictatorial repression. As seen with the prorogation of the parliament or the refusal to call Local Government elections for two decades.
If the truth was told, our lack of progress as a nation and our autocratic leadership styles are tied directly to our dictatorial constitution. I believe that our constitution is the only one in the Caribbean that does not follow the Westminster style of governance. We are probably the only Caribbean country that uses the proportional representation, rather than the first past the post, electoral system; meaning that you cannot vote for, or elect, your parliamentary representative.
The so called Burnham constitution does not allow you to have any local representative at Central level of governance. In every Caribbean and First World country you are allowed to vote for your Parliamentary representative, but not in Guyana. Additionally, no member of a party can vote on any issue independent of the collective party membership. And if they do vote independently, the constitution (through an amendment), allows for their immediate removal from the parliament.
Also, the constitution does not allow for parties to collate after an election. This means that even a party with a simple majority can form the government. For instance – Guyana’s parliament has 65 seats – if in a 3-way race two of the parties win 20 seats each, the party that won the other 25 seats will form the government and the two parties with the combined 15-seat majority, cannot collate to form the government.
We all know that our constitution was drafted by folks who wanted to make sure that they remain in power, with ultimate power, for life. Of course you know also that the President of Guyana stands immune from the law for any deeds he commits while in office. Again, this is only true in Guyana and in countries with dictatorial regimes.
For years there have been calls for the reformation of the constitution but neither of the political big wigs would push for any substantive change in the constitution, why? Because it is a gold mine of political and oppressive powers. It is said that power corrupts and Guyana’s constitution gives the executive absolute power, hence the absolute corruption that we see pervasive in Guyana.
So if we really wanted a matter of national significance that we should rally and picket for, it is the reformation of the 1980 constitution. It has almost single handedly stifled the growth and upward mobility of Guyana and yet, for personal gains, our politicians will continue to wrap themselves in it. It will take the collective force of “We the People,” to bring about the needed reform to our irrelevant, repressive, dictatorial constitution. And that’s not a red herring.
Pastor Wendell Jeffrey
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