Oh Guyana can’t you see— You’re posing a threat to future social identity

Apr 06, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Citizens become known by the seeds leaders have sown.
As the Guyanese government and its citizens continue parading before the world stage displaying both their asininities and proclivities they should be once again reminded that research has found that morality is a key aspect of social identity. WE have been frequently and conveniently bombarded from all angles of society, with the axiom that the youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow. Many of the politicians have also adopted the phrase, although it is somewhat more mentally-fulfilling if said the other way around—the youths are the leaders of today based on the displayed behaviour of those who claim to be the leaders.
The General Elections on March 2, came about fifteen months after the APNU/ AFC lost its one seat majority in the Parliament after MP Charrandas Persaud voted against his own party’s (AFC) leadership. Such an unexpected and highly controversial outcome triggered a protracted period of political instability and policy gridlock. Notwithstanding, the Caribbean Court of Justice ruling of June 18, 2019, that the no-confidence vote of December 2018 had been legitimately passed by a majority of MPs, and consequently led to a constitutional call for new elections by September 18, 2019. Despite this ruling, the government further delayed the date of elections until March 2, 2020, undeterred by the strong criticism of opposition leaders as well as by members of the international community. Now one month later and the winner of the last general elections is yet to be declared. What example is being set for the youth–the future leaders?
If the axiom holds true then shame is likely to be elicited when the youths see that the behaviour of the so-called leaders seems bent on threatening to tarnish their core sense of identity. Already Guyanese residing overseas are forced to endure harsh stereotypical attacks, once they state their country of origin. The truth be exposed, there are some existing narratives that does neither the country nor its natives any good. Guyana is not recalled in light of its rainforest, or the country that has the highest single drop waterfall, but instead as being the place where Jim Jones, an American made over 900 people commit suicide by drinking cyanide –laced Kool-Aid. Some natives have been known to shy away from full disclosure, for fear of the negative connotation that usually ensues. It is not a matter of being unpatriotic. Instead, it is the total opposite – for it is the love of one’s country Guyana, and self-identification with it that generates the feeling of shame in the first instance. Additionally, in Confucian ideology shame is by far a better emotion to have than renunciation. Post-election actions as they relate to the counting of the ballots, the
surreptitious movements of GECOM personnel, the undiplomatic treatment of foreign diplomats, the legal bickering, allusions of rigging, and the unprecedented delay before tally completion and winner declaration. The world has been watching on as Guyana continues on her infamous path, and it is the selfsame world that would link our country and its natives via harsh recalls about our barefaced rigging, our delayed ability to complete a fair and transparent voting process, and the accompanying shenanigans regarding the security lights at Giftland mall shining on the Arthur Chung Convention Centre as it housed the ballot boxes. The removal of the ballot boxes was carried out without prior notice, or stakeholders being made aware as to the provisions that had been put in place to assure the security of the containers, although the said containers were seen as being crucial in resolving the outcome of the elections.
The negative connotations that accompany Guyana and the Guyanese identity remains enshrined in firmly held belief by the Brits. In 1968 when votes from the diaspora determined the election, the voting lists compiled by the PNC’s diplomats in America and the U. K revealed invented names and fake addresses. One U. K address proved to be an open field housing two horses and not two voters Lily and Olga Barton as was indicated. Of 900 names checked in Britain, little more than 100 were genuine. In New York, four in every 10 were. Granada T.V documentary series World in Action titled “Trail of the Vanishing Voters” focused on the elections held in 1968, with special emphasis on unearthing the massive riggings of elections under the Forbes Burnham led PNC government. As a consequence, bemused Britishers used this new-information as an opportunity for displaced humour to be levelled at individuals who claimed Guyana as their place of origin. In 1973, the documentary series again looked at how the PNC rigged the 1973 elections giving itself a 2/3 majority. The overseas vote was once again overstated, proxy and postal voting gave the deceased, underaged and fictional, while disenfranchising real people.
Corruption in Guyana has been pervasive and ongoing, and as such still continues to negatively tarnish the image of the average Guyanese especially the young and those residing overseas. It is therefore incumbent on those in authority especially at governmental levels to promptly address the issue of deplorable acts and actions at home that generate critical oppobriums by which its citizens become known to the world at large and oftentimes remain permanently linked to.

Yvonne Sam

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