A practical political solution in which winner does not take all

Jul 09, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The incumbent APNU+AFC Coalition and the opposition PPP is each seeking to place itself in an advantageous position for upcoming elections. The CCJ ruled that the government has fallen and elections must be held. That is inevitable but the date for elections is not certain as is the outcome of an election. There is trouble ahead regardless of date of election and the outcome. Why not seek an outcome that will prevent political trouble?
The Coalition wants elections deferred until next year when oil money will begin to flow into the treasury to gain an advantage. The opposition wants election now confident it can win because it feels the Coalition is unpopular. With either side winning, the other side is a loser. In fact, Guyana will also be a loser because there will be political instability as the losing side will not accept the outcome. Development will be stifled. Oil money is likely to be misappropriated and the population will not benefit from the largesse.
If the Coalition wins, the Opposition will cry foul and challenge the result in court that will take more than five years to be addressed. If PPP wins, the coalition may cry fraud or refuse to give up power and or challenge the outcome that will also take a long time to be resolved. One side will not accept the other side as the ruler. And at any rate, political victory is not guaranteed for either side. The winner takes all political system does not serve Guyana well. Why not work towards an outcome where both sides win including the country as a whole?
There is such a potential outcome. All it takes is for both sides and the minor parties to agree to a power sharing formula before the election and sign to it so that it can be enforced in court. It may not be possible to legislate power sharing since the assembly will not meet again with the government having fallen from the no confidence vote. But there can be a broad public agreement in which both sides agree that the side that wins more votes will include the other side in government. For example, the winner gets the Presidency and the loser gets the PM position. After two and a half years, both sides rotate position. Cabinet positions will be agreed upon before the elections similar to what occurred in 2015 between APNU and AFC. Cabinet berths and or junior Ministries as well as board chairs and directorships and CEOs will be distributed according to an established formula based on percentage of votes won. If other (minor) parties win seats, they also get a percentage of cabinet and or state positions. Even if they don’t win seats, the minor should be offered positions on boards and commissions or even a technical ministry.
In Guyana’s pluralistic sharply divided society, a winner of an election should not take all. Both sides must be part of government. That was Cheddi Jagan’s mantra since 1960s. We need a practical political solution in which winner does not take all meaning governing alone. No side will lose corn and husk. This will encourage more people to become involved in politics and to hold government accountable. All sides will be winners including civil society and the population at large.

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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