Identifying and remedying the root causes of political conflicts in our country

Sep 13, 2020 Letters

Dear Editor,

All societies are faced with this issue of conflict. How we recognize and deal with these conflicts will be an important determinant of our success rate in identifying and remedying the root causes of the conflicts.

Conflict situations are highly volatile. What works today may not work tomorrow. Perhaps the greatest causes of public conflict in today’s World are: feelings of alienation, displeasure with the manner in which scarce resources are allocated among the people, lack of accountability on the part of the Government for public funds and poor governance.

The PPP/C did undoubtedly recognize these causation factors and this must be an obvious reason why the Government, since October 1992 to May 2015 did continually focus on bringing the type of changes that would guarantee effective participation by citizens in legislative work, to facilitate and in order to influence the economic and social situation in our Country. Undoubtedly also, the PPP/C recognized early enough that they could be no democracy in places where poverty, injustice, corruption, exclusion of a significant per cent of the Nation’s population are evident.
Consequentially, the participation of young people, women, Indigenous people and indeed, suitably qualified people of all ethnicities, as one of the important measures/remedies that will strengthen the Parliament; make it more representative of our cultures, and therefore, more effective in helping to convert democracy from an ideal to an economic, social and political reality.

The Party and Government have obviously determined to use remedies of accommodation, collaboration and compromise to help address the major conflicts of our Society. Already there is an air of optimism that is being felt and about which a significant number of the Guyanese people are happy.
Conflicts will always be with us. But to the extent that we are able to develop political Institutions and Instruments that facilitate the removal of social fragmentation, highlight and build on economic inadequacies, provide for checks and balances on public spending, improve the business environment, create opportunities for public consultation moreso involving Minorities … to that extent we would have helped to develop some mechanisms to remedy some of the root causes of conflict in our Society.
The Government’s 2020 Elections Manifesto and its Budget 2020 certainly make the type of provisions that aim to take Guyana and its people in that direction where peace, progress and prosperity replace conflicts in our Society.
The invitation is yet there for all Guyanese to come on board and be a part of the process and, I confidently say, a part of the progress. May we practice the spirit of collaboration and togetherness.
Yours truly,
Norman Whittaker, M.P.

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