9 I hope Guyana will somehow unwrap itself from this stifling shroud that is choking us

Feb 26, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

In these last few days before general elections, things seem relatively quiet, despite the usual din of campaign jabberwocky. However, with the stakes being as high as they are now, one wonders if this is the calm before the storm in this our kafkaesque Guyanese world?
I’m no pessimist, although that is about the easiest thing a Guyanese can become, but from past experience I wonder (again), what practiced plaintive howls will emit from the losers’ lips? For sure, if it is to be the Opposition, then they will yelp: “Rigged! Rigged! Rigged!” If it is to be the incumbent, then the bleating that will fill the air will be: “Bloated list! Bloated list! Bloated list!”
With the action possibly spilling into the streets, the smaller parties will hold their heads and bawl: “See, I told you so: the two behemoths only seek the splinter the country!”
Meanwhile, the watching world will frown and shake their heads condescendingly and say:” Well, what did you expect anyway, this is Guyana.” And the multinationals will only squirm with glee, it does not matter who is at the helm, US dollars can do wonders! And we wholeheartedly welcome your disunity.
All this will likely come to pass, you see, because the two Big Ones and their sorry goates… I mean, surrogates, have over the years normalized post-elections confusion.
In fact, they did more than that. They invented this circuitous game that goes like this: Propose and oppose, Bicker! Tit for tat, Bicker! Propose and…etc. etc.
They have become so obsessed with this game and the high it gives them, that they are oblivious to the stark fact that they themselves have become an integral part of the very problem they are attempting to solve, and so their efforts at finding solutions remain futile.
As I said earlier, I’m no pessimist; rather, I prefer to think of myself as an optimist. I keep clinging tenaciously to the hope that one day soon our beautiful, but seemingly perpetually jinxed Guyana, will somehow unwrap itself from this stifling shroud that is choking us, and out of the grey horizons someone, or something, will emerge and usher in a great, yet quiet storm that will transform our lives for the better.
I also hope that our Nation will unite as one; that under honest, rational and caring leadership, Guyana will seize the chance to achieve genuine development people-wise and economic-wise; that we will be respected internationally; that our resources will be prudently and wisely managed to ensure lasting prosperity; and that the cancer of racialism, corruption, incompetence, greed and other vices that have characterized our leadership over the years will be banished. That is my hope.
Yours sincerely,
Alvin Smith

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