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The nature of bipartisanship and what it lacks from partisanship
DEAR EDITOR,
I wish to address some concerns regarding shared-governance which is being advocated as a
way forward for Guyanese politics. I want to briefly explore what some political commentators have said about shared-governance and its role in transcending politics in Guyana. Undoubtedly, the political system and its institutions in Guyana must change for the better. What the ideal framework should look like has room for much debate since there is a plethora of possible ideas. However, there is one proposal that is commonly praised by political commentators, that is the need for shared-governance or power-sharing possible dilemma, one that broadly affects the efficacy of a shared-governance democracy. The dilemma has to do with the nature of bipartisanship and what it lacks from partisanship. We must understand how these two notions shape the political situation in Guyana’s context. Partisanship, that is expressing or endorsing strong support for a political party, is good for democracy but it tends to promote segregation instead of compromise. It also leads to polarization, which tends to negatively intensify political relations at every social level. But it does help to build political contenders who become opposition or critics to the sitting government. Ideally, a good democracy would have the National Assembly filled with independent parties with differing partisan agendas but hold national interest as paramount. In contrast, bipartisanship aims to promote collaboration between majoritarian parties, essential to any form of shared-governance. This in turn provides a pathway for nonpartisan relations. However, one glaring problem is that political disputes become reduced among contending ideologues or parties. Debates may even be artificially orchestrated, resulting in collusion to sustain the status-quo. This is devastating for democracy since political figures who are supposed to be contenders of policy and legislation simply present the perception that they are or become dormant. Furthermore, a bipartisan approach to majoritarian parties without suitable opposition, equal in force and influence, provides no opportunity to transcend beyond the status-quo. Evidently, we see this to be the case with the two-party dichotomy between the PPP/C and the PNCR, both of which are adamant about dismantling their traditional ethnocentric persona. Consequently, this puts Guyana’s political situation in a state of stasis and, for the most part, a democratic deadlock. The saying “people will just vote for race anyway” has weight. So how should we address this scenario in any shared-governance model? One possible way to counter this deadlock is by invoking civil society to become democratically invigorated to create necessary opposition and to spawn new partisan initiatives. It starts with civic engagement, which the democratic framework allows for and becomes important to prevent the danger of an authoritarianism which breeds and thrives on ethnic segregation and hostility, one which Guyana has systematically endured for decades. Even if the majority parties formed an alliance or coalition in the name of shared governance, theirs would be a form of tyranny of the majority because of this bipartisan maneuver, whereby minority parties or independents would have little to no influence on politics and its direction. For instance, land rights issues regarding indigenous peoples continue to this day because it is not prioritized due to the ethnocentric ideals of the current political dichotomy. Thus, any proponent of shared-governance must have a mechanism built-in to ensure political minorities become elevated in terms of representation and having some degree of voice in affecting political outcomes. However conceived, shared-governance must be democratic, that is, possess an independent opposition, undermine a potential tyrannical majority, and allows civil society and citizen engagement on policy and legislative matters.
Yours faithfully,
Ferlin Pedro
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