Guyana’s poisoned political climate

Oct 22, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A man whom I have known for a very long time came up to me and asked what I thought of the decision of the President of Guyana to unilaterally appoint a Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission. I knew that was not the real question which he wanted to ask. What he really wanted to know was what the implications of this decision were for the future of Guyana.
I asked him if he had children. He said yes. Knowing that he enjoyed some level of financial security, I asked him whether the family had visas for any of the developed countries. He said they all had multiple visas for the USA and Canada. I said to him, “Get your children out of this country and get them out fast.”
This is my advice to all Guyanese who want to know my opinion about the President’s decision to unilaterally appoint a Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and the decision of the person to accept that appointment, knowing all too well that the President’s decision has effectively poisoned the political climate.
Climate change is brutal, but it is far less destructive to a country’s economy than threats to democracy. Right now in Guyana, democracy is in its darkest hour. The decision of the President creates a political tsunami which will be more destructive than anything which has been done so far or is likely to be done to the economy by the government. It is worse than VAT – vampire at your throat.
Guyana is in the midst of a political hurricane. My advice to all Guyanese professionals is to begin to look for jobs elsewhere. My advice to persons who have status in other countries is to start preparing to emigrate. My advice to persons with visas is to get your kids out of this country before the going gets tougher and the rights of citizens are more openly trampled upon – the inevitable consequence of a breakdown of democratic government.
Forget about oil. That is not going to materialize any more. Companies like Exxon Mobil weigh the political risks in a country before sinking any investment. Exxon is not likely to sink any further investment in Guyana, given the fact that democracy is being threatened. The excitement over Guyana’s oil find is over, sunk by a return to the old politics of mistrust.
Forget about the government’s plans, announced at the Private Sector Business Summit, to attract new investment into the country. Given the threats to democratic governance, there are only two types of investors who are going to risk investing in Guyana from now on – extreme risk-takers and carpetbaggers.
The President’s decision has created the worst political crisis in Guyana since the disputed 1997 elections, which the PNCR knew that it had lost but refused to accept the results. Guyanese are all too well aware of what happened in the years following that decision. Growth contracted, because both local and overseas investors were not going to sink money in a country where there is political instability. Local investors adopted a wait and see position.
It is not so much a case of political instability as it is political uncertainty which will undermine economic confidence in Guyana. But the greatest threat of any assault on democracy involves the violation of the rights of citizens.
We have seen what has happened to vendors in Guyana. We have seen the actions taken to break down the homes of squatters. We have seen the dismissals of persons from the public service. We have witnessed persons being charged for some ‘strange offences’ such as non-entries into accounting journals by other persons. We have seen the DPP express an opinion about the need for cases to be built based on evidence.
All of these things happened before this perverse decision by the President of Guyana, to unilaterally appoint a Chairperson of GECOM, after he (the President) had initiated a constitutional process which many felt had become settled practice. What do you think is going to happen now that the political climate is poisoned?
To directly answer my friend’s question, there is only one direction in which Guyana is headed, and that is downwards. And so the only advice which could have been given to him – and which is now being given to all Guyanese concerned about Guyana’s future – is to get your children out of this God-forsaken country.
Guyana is going nowhere under the APNU+AFC coalition other than downwards. Democracy is likely to be the victim of Guyana’s poisoned political culture. The economy will follow afterwards. Get your children out of here and do so fast!

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