Our leaders must not take our expectations for granted

Mar 27, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Do we understand what democracy is and what it does to governments and countries that embrace it? Democracy is like truth. It is pure! It does not discriminate. It will not be ignored and it will not go away once it first is proclaimed.
When countries decide that Democracy will be their preferred type of governance, they mostly unwittingly accept that there will be constant change and evolution because the democratic ideology insists that established institutions, ideas, policies, etc. evolve, change and develop on a regular basis in order to prevent the inevitable human frailty that produces greed, power-thirst, corruption, nepotism and all the other negative conditions that come in other ideologies, from taking root and to ensure the best possible quality of life for its citizens.
That is why, in democratic countries, no government can theoretically remain in power indefinitely. And that is mainly due to the power of the ballot. All politicians – without exception – become hooked on the power trip that comes with winning an election. But, in almost every case, they falter, despite their best efforts, in delivering their campaign promises to the people’s satisfaction. On top of that, citizens of democracies crave and expect the highest levels of performance and excellence by their governments (which in a way might be a bit too extreme or elusive given the fact that human beings make up governments) and that level of performance/excellence is never forthcoming. That is why the best, most astute politicians inevitably get rejected either by the ballot or by the limits on their terms in office (an essential linchpin of democracy).
So, you ask the question, what must a politician do when he/she finds him/herself in power in a democracy for the first time? The answer to that question is twofold. First, the politician must have a clear understanding of how democracy works, that he/she will never be able to satisfy all the needs of his/her and opposing constituents, that his/her time in power is finite, that any breach of norms, rules or the law for that matter, will be severely frowned upon and dealt with either in the courts or at the ballot, and second, he/she must be prepared to work at any level in public service when his/her government is operating under the aegis of democracy and is out of power. That means that a politician must have a plan ‘B’ that does not include lining his/her pockets while in office in order to enjoy a golden parachute type retirement after they leave. We have seen presidents, prime ministers and other prominent members of government either go to jail or become public servants in other capacities like mayors, college lecturers, community leaders, etc. after they unavoidably leave office.
Of course, there are cases where governments understand the essentials of democracy and they make their best efforts to demonstrate that understanding when for example, citizens become anxious over particular issues. Government officials get fired or are asked to resign, cabinets get shuffled and reshuffled, referendums are held and, in rare cases, presidents and other members sometimes resign. On the other hand, some governments in so-called democracies do the exact opposite because they never grasped the underpinnings of the democratic ideology. They use threats, they dig in on their unpopular decisions and employ propaganda overload, among other futile efforts to remain in office. Others get so lost in the in their power bubbles that they never see defeat until it confronts them at the next elections.
So where do we stand here in our beautiful Guyana? We have run the gamut of situations that arise in democratic states. We have had an autocrat rise out of what was first seen to be the perfect formation of a democracy immediately following independence in 1966 – the Burnham era. We had genuine democratic leadership following that during the Hoyte and Jagan terms and we had the many calamitous years combining the illegal government of Janet Jagan, a naturalized Guyanese citizen, and the disaster that came with Jagdeo afterwards. So here we are with Granger at the helm and from all appearances, it looks like we have found our way back on track to democratic rule. But do all the members of our government, and the opposition for that matter, understand how democracy works and what is expected of them and what they must expect for themselves relative to what the citizens’ expectations and powers are? As Guyanese citizens, we will continue to hold our leaders to the highest standard of democracy that is possible and they must never take our expectations for granted.

Concerned Citizen

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