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Referendum and elections
…Editorial
Kaieteur News- A referendum is better if it comes after next year’s general elections. This is the latest position of Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. After carefully choosing his first words on a referendum, there is no further sidestepping of the most important issue to Jagdeo. It is the supremacy of elections in his visions and ambitions. National elections are the pathway to power, where it is either gained or lost. A referendum on renegotiation of the ExxonMobil oil contract, could wreck all of Jagdeo’s cleverly laid plans. An outcome that says “YES” to renegotiation leaves him stranded, with nowhere to run. Because of the thought of that clear danger, among the bigger ones in his nightmarish world, he is horrified at having a referendum before elections.
First, he was not against one, but didn’t think it’s a good idea. Then, he niftily minimized his role by saying that a referendum would be a cabinet decision. All along, Jagdeo had his eyes on the crucial 2025 general elections, and the impact of a referendum held before it. But he delayed in saying that any referendum should come after. His hold on power is more important than oil fairness and oil justice. His priority in serving the interests of ExxonMobil supersedes his duty to Guyanese. His fear about a likely positive result (Yes to renegotiation) drives him to muddy and slow down the calls for a referendum before the upcoming elections. Jagdeo, ever the cunning maneuverer, is working overtime to buy time.
Weeks have passed since the Ram and McRae survey surfaced before Guyanese. The referendum conversation has not dropped off, but continues at varying levels of intensity. Jagdeo’s own struggling supporters are paying close attention to his trickiness on a referendum that could make a difference in their lives. But Jagdeo’s strategy is becoming clearer, as he comes up with a new weekly dodge (it is better after elections). It is another week gone by. In December Guyanese are more focused on having a nice holiday, such as they can manage, for their families. The burning issue of holding a referendum could be pushed to that secondary holding place -the backburner. This fits neatly into Jagdeo’s timeline, for early next year, he could then say that with elections so close, a referendum would be a logistical problem. Or any other kind that he dreams up to justify his position. It would be an interference, because the time to elections is so limited.
We disagree, while resting confidently on that proven truism: where there’s a will, there’s a way. The road to a referendum could be found, but only if Jagdeo has the will for it. It is obvious that he has no stomach for what a referendum result could produce. Hence, all this dithering and blabbering about “suspect” survey, Cabinet, and now elections. There is the fullest appreciation that the principals at ExxonMobil would have to agree to sitting around the table of renegotiation should Guyanese vote for it to happen. But Jagdeo knows how much he is committed to ExxonMobil, how and where the company has him in a stranglehold. Therefore, he has to move mountains so that a referendum does not go through, so as to block Guyanese from having the opportunity to say, let’s have it. It would be most displeasing to ExxonMobil should that clarion call come from the people, and it would mean that Jagdeo failed to deliver on his end of any commitments made to the company.
Because Jagdeo is a leader who never takes responsibility for anything, a referendum gives him a clean exit. It is upset, impatient Guyanese who want a referendum, though he tried his best to stonewall, then undermine, then distract citizens from having one. ExxonMobil’s decision-makers would then have a choice: resist the will of the owners of the Stabroek Block or agree to renegotiate. The first would turn all Guyanese against Woods and Routledge. Best of all for Jagdeo, he gets to hide behind the will of citizens. But even that is a frightening consideration for him, so much he is in partnership with ExxonMobil. It is why he fights so craftily against a referendum with excuses that fool no one.
(Referendum and elections)
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