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It is time to break the political stranglehold imposed on the people by the PPP and PNC

Aug 16, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

One of the fundamental tenets of democracy is the freedom to choose, amongst which is the freedom to choose who should govern the State for the benefit of the people. But democracy is under attack when two political parties are allowed to polarise and monopolise the people for the benefit of a selected few. This is the political status quo in Guyana today.

For the past 56 years as an Independent nation, Guyanese have been in the stranglehold of the PPP and PNC who have dominated the political landscape and done their darnedest to divide and control the people along racial lines for political power. Their stranglehold on Indians and Africans has virtually excluded other parties from effectively participating in the electoral process. The AFC was an exception and was emerging as a truly national party, unlike the PPP and PNC which have been in existence for the life of the nation. But the AFC didn’t bide its time and gave up their political fortune for a bowl of soup.

We all know that political support in Guyana is not based on the integrity and competence of the leaders and their vision for the development of the country, but rather on the racial make-up of the leadership of the parties. In the circumstances, Guyana may always have people of questionable character running its affairs, as there are always allegations of corruption and discrimination made against those in government. Because of the racial voting pattern, elections in Guyana have always been traumatic to the people, who are devastated whenever the party they have voted for loses an election.

It is evident that the relationship between our two major political parties has reached a new low. Never before have I heard that the Opposition was not invited by the government for observance of national ceremonial events, like the country’s independence anniversary. And never before have I heard that the Leader of the Opposition bluntly refused a handshake from the President (COVID aside). This is an indication of the undesirable type of leaders we have. We must be the laughingstock of the Caribbean.

It is time for the people to take back the political power which we have delegated to the current crop of politicians. This can be done by amending the Constitution to revert to the Constituency electoral system. But that system needs to be modified in order for the people to benefit. While it will empower the people to choose their parliamentary representatives in accordance with the geographical constituencies demarcated, let us use the cumulative votes awarded to the parties through their candidates, to determine which party forms the government – instead of using the number of seats won. Under this arrangement, there is every likelihood that there would be minority governments, which would not be able to function on their own. So governments would be forced to collaborate with the other side of the House in order to govern.  And new parties would be given the opportunity to successfully compete against the PPP and PNC for seats in Parliament.

Remember you don’t have to be in government in order to influence the governance of the country – all you need are a few seats in Parliament.

Yours sincerely
‘Dougla’

 

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