Government has fallen, but there is Hope

Dec 24, 2018 Editorial

After being in office for only three and a half years, the APNU+AFC coalition government has been soundly defeated on three occasions by the PPP, which blamed the government’s defeat on the mismanagement of the economy, high crime, and gross incompetence, among others.
The first defeat occurred in Local Government Elections (LGE) in March 2016, less than one year after the government assumed office. The second was on November 12, when the coalition government received a shellacking in the LGE.
And the third defeat unfolded last Friday in high drama in Parliament when attorney-at-law and AFC Member of Parliament, Charrandas Persaud bucked the trend and voted in favor of the no-confidence motion which passed in the House. It was the worst defeat suffered by any government in the history of Guyana. At no time was the PPP or the PNC was ever defeated in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.
With the passage of the no-confidence motion, Guyanese would most likely go back to the polls in general elections by the end of March, 2019, according to the President who has decided to abide by Article (106) 7 of the constitution: “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the elections.”
While supporters of the PPP at home and abroad celebrated the fall of the government, the outcome of the votes came as a blow to many supporters of the government. The truth is the government has to take full responsibility for what transpired in Parliament last Friday.
There has always been the possibility that coalition governments, especially those with a small majority of seats in Parliament will most likely not serve a full term in office because of disagreements on policies and style of governance. In most cases, the larger parties in coalition governments tend to implement policies without consulting with the smaller parties
The APNU+AFC coalition government with a one seat majority should have proceeded to govern with caution and should have engaged the opposition when necessary. Instead, they governed as if they had a large majority.
Not only have they ignored the PPP, but they have also ignored the coalition partners in the decision-making process as well as the electorate. In the three years, the government did not consult with, or listen to the concerns of the people or their back bench MPs such as Charsandass Persaud and many others.
As said earlier, the government, especially President Granger must be blamed for the success of the motion. Not only were members of the cabinet arrogant and obsessed with power, but they have abandoned their supporters, made too many mistakes, were involved in too many scandals and wrong doings, mismanaged the economy and not being transparent or accountable.
There were insensitive to the needs of the people, particularly the poor. But the greatest mistake of all was to increase their salaries by 50 percent after being in office for less than three months.
In the case of wrong doings, it seems that the president took a nonchalant approach and did not discipline any of the Ministers involved.
As reported on many occasions, the president and members of the cabinet do not listen to advice from anyone. Moreover, most ministers are aloof.
But it is not all doom and gloom. Importantly, Jagdeo sounded a conciliatory tone and appeared to have left the door open for some sort of political cooperation, as Guyana heads into commercial oil production by early 2020. It is an unprecedented move by Jagdeo to unite both parties and move the country forward in the future.

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