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On being a young journalist in Parliament
By Kemol King
For the past three weeks, I have been assigned to report on matters occurring in the National Assembly, due to the proposal of Budget 2019 by the Minister of Finance on November 26.
Kemol King
I’m 22, and only a few months into journalism. So, the idea that I’d have to cover parliament was very intimidating; an unease that was short-lived.
As a young journalist, I had expected that certain mores would be observed and upheld by the representatives of the highest legislative body in the nation. However, in a few weeks, I have seen members of Parliament from both the government and the opposition acting in contempt of each other and going on at a rate that is reflective of the deep-seated division in this country.
Growing up reading the news, all I had was stories to tell me that every convention of the national assembly was noisy and chaotic. Experiencing it up close was eye-opening.
The Speaker of the House had cause to, on multiple occasions, reprimand MPs from both sides on their conduct, which constitutes hurling objects and insults at each other from across the table, mocking speeches with obnoxious laughter, and scrolling through social media or online shopping sites while speeches are being delivered. Is this what we’re paying these people for?
You’d think that, being aware of Guyana’s history of racial and socioeconomic struggle, our political leaders would conduct themselves in a manner that is befitting of the positive change that they all claim to fight for.
On the contrary, arguments across the table seemed more inclined to put down the other side because they are on the other side, instead of making the good of the country the most paramount consideration. There’s a lot of pretense in parliament, and very little authenticity.
It seems as though the government just has the opposition around because it’s what’s necessary, since they have little regard for opposition to the policies in their budget. When the leader of the opposition stood to deliver his general address on the budget, all government MPs stood up and walked out. Even then, he delivered an address laden with resurrections of past political grievances that had nothing to do with budget 2019.
I remember the opposition giving scorching speeches about how tone-deaf and insensitive they think the budget is. However, when it came to actually fighting for the reform of the budgetary propositions and policies, they, either, put up weak protests or walked out of the chamber. It begs the question: What was the usefulness of the opposition in these proceedings?
For a very long time, the veteran political parties of the PPP/C and the PNC(R) were thought to be the political embodiments of the two major ethnic groups. Knowing this, both groups have attempted to capitalise, irresponsibly, on the loyalism that comes with those reputations.
They have also, for a very long time, known that politics doesn’t just bring out the racism in this country, but that it breeds it. Knowing this, how could these ‘leaders’ expect the rest of the country to progress through its racial strife when they continuously wield the loyalism of their supporters like weapons against each other?
It is a sad and disappointing reality that our leaders’ actions do not reflect the revolutionary change that they claim to want. Instead, they are a reflection of the very worst of us.
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