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CONFLICT OR CONFLATION OF INTEREST?

Aug 26, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Guyana’s national poet, Martin Carter, once wrote: the mouth is muzzled by the hand that feeds it. Those political leaders who accepted employment as advisors to the government will find it hard to convince the public that they have not betrayed their commitments to the electorate.
Appearances matter. And this move has all the appearances of the PPP/C attempting to secure a safer political majority by inducting two of the leaders of the Third Force in parliament into the government.
The two individuals are not in a conflict of interest. They have been co-opted into the government. They have become advisors to the very government over which they are supposed to exercise oversight.
The PPP/C promised inclusion. They have instead administered rites of co-option. They have effectively secured an additional seat in the National Assembly. It will be difficult for both the Justice and Liberty Party (JLP) and the A New and United Guyana (ANUG) to convince their supporters that they will be independent in the National Assembly. It is impossible to be perceived as independent when two of the parties to the joined List have accepted paid employment with the government.
There is no longer any Third Force in the National Assembly. With these two appointments, there is only the government side and the opposition side. This represents a betrayal of the supporters of the JLP and ANUG.
One of the excuses offered is pitiful and disgraceful. The smaller parties had taken a decision that they would not join with any of the two major parties. In other words, they pledged to be independent. To say that this promise to not join with any of the two main political blocks only applied to a situation in which there was a minority government sounds disingenuous and opportunistic.
Those who accepted these positions did so in their personal capacities. This acceptance, therefore, has nothing to do with political inclusion. The PPP/C has established no formal relationship with these parties. They have offered jobs to two leaders.
Dr. Cheddi Jagan tried this trick in 1992 when he selected Clive Thomas as his Minister of Planning and Development. The WPA put an immediate halt to this and indicated that the PPP/C government needed to engage the party.
A policy of inclusion would have involved a formal arrangement with the parties. The PPP/C has taken the easy route out. They have laid the bait and the leaders have bit it. Why talk and negotiate when you can co-opt?
Political inclusion should have involved an agreement for constitutional reform. This has not happened. Jobs were offered and gleefully accepted.
The executive of the JLP and ANUG should demand answers from their leaders as to why they have opted to accept personal appointments. They should advise them that given that they have accepted positions as advisors, then they should resign from the leadership of their party and from any possible representation in parliament.
The other leaders of these parties should condemn the acceptance of these positions. They should also level with the public and indicate whether the executives of the JLP and ANUG were consulted on this issue and whether they have their blessings.
The PPP/C has been shameless in making these appointments. These positions were concocted to be given to these political leaders. There was never any need for an advisor on civil aviation. And there was also no need for an additional advisor on Borders. Guyana already has one such advisor in Carl Greenidge. Why have another?
The PPP/C is now assured of 34 seats in the National Assembly. No amount of disingenuous answers will change this.
With an assured two seats majority now, there will be less need to enter into any talks with the PNC/R and the AFC.
It is ironic that one of the parties which was pressing for a political accommodation between the main political blocks have now become the major impediment to that process. The supporters of those parties must feel betrayed.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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