In Support of Inclusive Government but…

Jun 16, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

I endorse the view expressed by Prof. Kenn Danns that inclusive governance is needed in Guyana. Inclusive government must also embrace the minor parties regardless of which party wins; PPP must bring the minor parties on board. I long champion such governance structure. In reading Danns, I cannot help but notice a serious bias in his emphasis of the history of oppression experienced by one ethnic group while understating those of the other ethnicities.
He notes, for example, killing of Africans but there is no mention of the Wismar Massacre or kick down door banditry or Rupununi killings, and the violence of the House of Israel. Is Danns motivated to write about and champion inclusive governance (in this and two other recent pieces) as a result of such bias? Why is it that the concept of inclusive governance only strategically reared its head when PPP is about to take office (1992 and 2020)? Why was it not championed 1966 to 1992 and 2015-20?
Is Danns using inclusive governance as a cover for fraud? Don’t the votes of other groups matter? At a minimum, Prof Danns should publicly condemn electoral fraud and chastise its intellectual authors. Scholars rhetorically ask how can an incoming administration pay heed to the words of an academic who is not prepared, on an issue of principle, to call a spade a spade regardless of one’s ethnicity and political affiliation as done by former PMs and current PMs like Owen Arthur, Bruce Golding, Ralph Gonsalves, Keith Rowley, Mia Mottley, Sam Hinds, among others.
It is conspicuously noticed that Danns did not condemn electoral frauds (not even during or after his stint at UG). How can Prof Danns expect decent politicians to take note of his recommendations if he can’t make a simple gesture of condemnation of electoral fraud as other African intellectuals like Ruel Johnson and Nigel Hinds did? Also, between 2015 and 2020, he was silent on inclusive governance – that was an ideal time to goad the administration into constitutional reform for inclusive governance as I urged.
Danns harped on the massive victimization of slaves, a history we all know but other groups were also severely persecuted during colonial rule and by the Burnham administration that succeeded the white masters. And he mentioned 160 Afro-Guyanese were killed during the PPP tenure in office but failed to note that many died during gang and drug related encounters. He also failed to mention that some 117 Indians were also killed during that same period. He even failed to mention that some who were killed in encounters with security forces were determined to topple the PPP government with force even invading the Presidential Secretariat.
Past persecution of one ethnic group or gang murders cannot be invoked as justification for inclusive governance. As an academic, Prof Danns can be objective and give equal emphasis to the challenges faced by ethnic groups. To be taken as a serious academic necessarily requires some semblance of balance in one’s writings. ALSO, WHY WOULD HE BE SO SNIDE AS TO PRETEND HE COULDN’T REMEMBER WHO WAS THE PPP’S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE? OR THAT “Granger has held together a coalition of parties with widely varying views”.
Pro Danns new found view on inclusive governance is being viewed by several scholars, including those who taught with him at UG, as one sided and opportunistic in that he only now promotes this concept when the party of his ethnicity has lost a democratic election. Such partisanship would not help to address the institutionalized divisiveness that he seeks to resolve via shared governance.
As a political sociologist, Prof Danns needs to accept that the 2020 elections was not a referendum on inclusive governance. It was based on the winner takes all (WTA) system as he correctly asserted. It must continue now with minor parties part of governance and then we proceed for constitutional change. Political parties and academics must not be divorced from the ethnic reality on the ground and in the outcome of this election.
For the record, I read and listened to the PPP leadership on ‘inclusionary’ democracy or inclusive governance and is also in the manifesto but yet to hear the view of the coalition on the idea. I fully support inclusive governance in a plural society like Guyana. No ethnic group must be dominant over others. But we need a model to be developed and parameters before we proceed to have a meaningful discussion of it.
Ideas on inclusive governance are important and must be given attention. The literature on that concept in the academic field has been growing including some of my own writings. Notwithstanding the flaws noted above, I am pleased that Prof Danns has come on board in supporting inclusive governance, a concept long overdue. I hope the parties would give serious thought about addressing racial divisiveness via inclusive governance or some other mechanism.

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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