Gov’t should not be given ‘a chance’

Dear Editor,

MANY question the wisdom of holding this new administration accountable, not taking into consideration that when the previous administration came to power in 1992, many said “give them a chance.” In granting this chance, what happened from day one were moves to remove career diplomats and replace them with political appointees, and this was not without racial overtones.In the Customs and Excise Dept, the entire top brass was removed. And the transgressions continued, growing bolder and bolder with each passing day.

When Bharrat Jagdeo ascended to the presidency, this society was asked by prominent citizens, including Eusi Kwayana, to give the young man a chance, being the youngest president, and there was the notion that he did not bring with him the baggage of the 1960s.

This nation lived to see that, under his administration, over 400 young men were denied the right to life, in a gruesome killing orgy that had elements of his government involved.

Under his stewardship, Guyana was ranked by Transparency International as the most corrupt English-speaking Caribbean country. Roger Luncheon, in a court of law, said there was no qualified African to head any foreign mission, when there is evidence to the contrary.

Groups were marginalized, and acts were conducted to deny freedom of expression and silence the voice of dissent or alternative opinion through economic strangulation, as seen committed against some private media, Critchlow Labour College, and the Guyana Trades Union Congress. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the dastardly acts that were committed against the citizens of this country.

Having lived through the PNC and PPP governments, there are some who today demand that Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte be held accountable for their stewardship. In principle, there is no problem with such a call. What is disturbing, however, is that Jagdeo and Ramotar, who are alive — the former with a stewardship tantamount to brutality previously unknown in this country — are not being asked or held to account.

Conscious of the path this nation has travelled, the current managers of our business must be held to higher standards, and this has to happen from day one. They have campaigned for the job fully aware of what it entails, even moreso that they were in the opposition and shadowed the PPP government. The people have granted them the privilege to manage their affairs.

While we can accept that there will be teething problems in understanding the nuances of day-to-day executive responsibilities, what we must not accept, from day one, is the violating of time-honoured principles, our constitution and laws, and the transgressing of rights. These tenets need no experience. What they need is making the time to understand them, and where in doubt, consult. The reference to time here does not mean days, it means pausing to think and confirm before acting.

Government is about the people and the people’s development. In our representative democracy, we are not ruled; our affairs are entrusted in the hands of our representatives, who will ensure their proper management. Having fought against being ruled during slavery, indentureship and colonialism, the right for political self-determination, won with independence, means that we are no longer ruled by any group, but our affairs are managed by those we elected to so do.

This nation and its leaders must disabuse themselves of the notion that we are still being ruled. When one is being ruled, he/she no longer enjoys the right to participate and self-determine. The Guyana Constitution expressly states how we ought to be treated; how government ought to manage the affairs of state, which is inclusive of our well-being; and our role in ensuring that such is done consistent with our hopes, dreams and aspirations. Nowhere in this supreme instrument are the people placed as subjects and their leaders rulers.

A people get the government they deserve. The people have elected the APNU+AFC to do better than the previous government, and they must. The power lies in the hands of the people, who entrusted it to their elected leaders. Without the people, leaders have no power. The accusation by some that holding this government to account will make them one term couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is that not holding them to account and ensuring they stay on course would more than likely make them a one-term government. Every error in judgement and action made by the APNU+AFC, and their failure to avoid and correct it, makes the case for the PPP to return to office.

Lincoln Lewis