A third political party is a necessity but….

May 15, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Re your letter: “I See a Third Party Coming,” KN of Sunday, May 14. This is a necessity, but not a reality without a revolution. Our constitution has been so manipulated that it is impossible to have a third party succeed.
The Constitution as it now stands, states that any coalition between two parties must take place before the election. This has the effect of perpetuating the racial divide that dominates our political system. This divide is denied by both parties, but recognized by any Guyanese.
Any Coalition before an election causes an elector to see the new “party” as supporting the race of the major partner. This will cause some voters to cast their vote for the other party. I am aware that it happened in the last election. A Coalition before an election does not give a “new” party a chance to test its real strength.
Another scar on our “Democracy” is the fact that our Members of Parliament cannot vote their “conscience” they must vote the “party line”. If they do not, they are expelled from Parliament. This has the effect of putting the country in the hands of the party executive, a small body of persons normally dominated by one person.
The arrangement we have had for the last 50 years or so, calls itself “Democratic”. It is not so, but we live with it. It does not encourage entrepreneurs, but does encourage bureaucracy. We have, 25 Ministers that misrule us? In the bad old days, I’m told, three persons ran the country with a string of civil servants, who were dominated by a group of Permanent Secretaries, who knew their jobs, and did them well.
Currently ‘Permanent Secretary’ is a job description and often is a ‘political appointee’. Guyana has a problem. Our best President was defeated by the racial vote. Our system is corrupt with no recourse, so where do we go? Even Venezuela cannot exist under virtually our system.
John Willems

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