The emergence of a dictatorship
By Khemraj Ramjattan
When Hitler was elected Chancellor in January 1933, Germany was a democracy. There were free and fair elections; persons were allowed to vote for the party of their choice; and, there were many to choose from. To pass a law, a Bill had to be tabled, debated and approved. The Reichstag of January 1933 saw over 50% of those who held seats being against the Nazi Party. What could have happened that resulted in Germany shortly thereafter having one of the most infamous dictators of all history? What lessons are there for Guyana?
In politics, a dictatorship is government and governance not limited by law. There is a concentration of political power either in one person or in an elitist and strongly united core group.
The central characteristic of such a regime is that it dominates the political and economic and social levers of the entire society its rules without any regards to good governance and accountability principles, human rights, integrity of its offices and total disregard for checks and balances in financial affairs. Further, it is unabashed in its propensity to use state resources to advance its agenda. So it would be quite commonplace to see Ministers of a dictatorial government, using State resources such as vehicles, properties and finances to conduct its work and coerce and bribe citizens into becoming members and supporters. In a dictatorial regime, social and public institutions are generally run by cronies of the regime or relatives of the central cabal.
Dictatorial governments are known to use their position and access to the resources of the country to promulgate widespread propaganda designed to discredit any opposing view and promulgate themselves as the only ‘salvation’ for the people. Independent media daring to question or criticize such a government are labeled “oppositionists”, “detractors” and other derogatory terms. Such regimes are also known to expend significant amounts on its own propaganda so that what the public receives from the media is a constant dose of the achievements of the dictator or his regime, and how all of this is in the interest of the people. Powerful images will dominate all media to present the regime as most caring, respected and honest.
Probably the most glaring characteristic of a dictatorial regime is its pervasive greed. Leading members of such a regime abuse power for their personal enrichment. They misappropriate from the public purse and divert public resources with impunity and use their propaganda machinery to fool the public into believing otherwise. They are immersed in corruption.
The country which a dictatorial government presides over generally suffers serious migration of its best and brightest, infrastructural degradation, economic decline and raging political conflicts.
Now the point must be made that while it is generally known that dictators have never been held accountable for their atrocities unless they are thrown out of power, the development of the international criminal law and with the emerging trends on international anti-corruption legal regimes, there is a possibility of despotic dictators being held accountable for their atrocities outside their jurisdictions. Governing dictatorial cabals are loathe to adhere to international best practices of governance and when their atrocities come in for international attention are quick to scream: “We are a sovereign state and would tolerate no outside interference”.
Does such a country ring a bell? Yes…indeed it is today’s Guyana. For some who may want to deny that it has reached such a state, they must honestly pronounce that it will soon reach such a disastrous destination.
After 21 years in power, we see these exact characteristics in the PPPC Government; the greed, corruption, concentration of power in the hands of a few, total disregard for the principles of good governance, contempt towards criticism and the general attitude that they alone have the right to rule.
The Guyanese dictators need to wake up and read the writing on the wall. They must be reminded that the longest rope has an end. But our Guyanese citizens must also wake up to the reality that unless we actively engage in finding that end of the rope, this oppression will persist that longer. We must stand up and speak out. We must show our outrage at this spawning of these maharajahs and sultans. By our silence we will only be condoning this brutality, this fast advancing local Nazism.
As Justice William O. Douglas of the US Supreme Court said, “As nightfall does not come at once, neither does, oppression. In both instances, there’s twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”
