Claims
of marginalisation are the smokescreen
Dear Editor,
Political parties each vie for the trust of the people and through national
elections attain the seat of government. In Guyana, this competition is mainly
between two political parties, the PPP and the PNC.
For almost
three decades and numerous elections
the PNC “attained” the seat of government. The party revelled in the
“victory” brought through the electoral system. Everything was hunky-dory.
But then, as tends to happen, the tide changed and another party won an
election. Suddenly, the PNC became discontented with the system even though they
had earlier relished its benefits. Now they find it unacceptable; a position
highly duplicitous at best.
One must bear in mind, however, that the PNC once found the system advantageous
simply because they found ways of illegally tampering with it to produce results
in their favour; election results were acceptable then because they were rigged.
Now that the system has been refined, internationally monitored, and made
tamper-proof as far as humanly possible, the PNC is displeased and find it
difficult to accept the results.
Most political parties would see an electoral loss as a sign that the party’s
policies are lacking in something, that it is missing some vital essence,
causing a large portion of the electorate to shy away from it. To lose an
election is simply to win a vote of no confidence. The message is that you have
work to do.
Rather than use this time to enlarge its support base and expound its virtues,
the PNC engineered a campaign of strife and division. As expected by all, except
perhaps PNC leaders, this resulted in further alienating the 8% or so of the
population needed by the party to honestly earn the seat of government.
But the PNC is not accustomed to making amends; it is more adept at heaping
contempt on the will of the people. So the party decides not to develop the
requisite skills to win the electoral game, rather they are trying to change the
rules of the contest.
The ruse is called “power sharing” or “inclusive governance” and it is
advanced through the campaign of social strife and racial division. Some people,
scared of the PNC’s policies when it was in power and now terrified of its
tactics in the opposition are crying, “Here, Mr. Bully, just take whatever you
want but please, please don’t beat up on us anymore.”
Power sharing will fail, anything involving an unrepentant and unreformed PNC
will fail. Claims of marginalization and discrimination are the smoke-screen
behind which lurks the true motive for power sharing: the delusion of PNC
paramountcy, which coincidentally is the essence of its self-defeat.
Make a note of those who believe it best to satisfy the lust for power rather
than stand up for the principles of democracy and the discipline of politics,
practised ethically. You will have these people to thank for the chaos inherent
in power sharing.
If the PNC wants power it must clean up its act and find civilized and moral
ways of attracting the small amount of the population it needs to win an
election. Power sharing, as presented in Guyana, is nothing more than another
form of “partitioning”.
Yours faithfully,
Lutchman Gossai
Corbin as a lawyer is really stu-pid and no wonder he and his
party, the PNC, screwed up beautiful Guyana. According to Stabroek news
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Editor’s note: The extra judicial
killings of
primarily young African men, but also members of the WPA, started long before this government came to power in
1992 and was part of the process of the breakdown and politicisation
of the traditional police force.
