The time has come for a change; one that is graceful and quick. This country will be a better place. Because of certain postures and presences, the politically brutish has become commonplace, the descent of a people has accelerated unchecked. Absence will be recognized – even lauded – for a rare patriotism and selflessness. Those who have ears should listen to what follows; it is not intended to be disparaging or to offend to anyone, but to persuade only. This is how the story reads.
The height of this country’s political descent is captured in the PPP government’s brusque denunciations centred on cake-shops, rum-shops, and bottom houses. This is so because present leadership has contributed heavily to a situation where the opposition – existent in form only – is not a concern. Therefore, there is the luxury of dismantling dissenting citizens, after hurling epithets in their faces. Increasingly, excoriation and intimidation are becoming an inseparable part of this government’s political strategy; healthy skepticism can be hazardous to health. To echo Barry Goldwater: “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice! And… moderation in pursuit of justice no virtue!” That is, the PPP’s brand of liberty, and justice according to its own standards.
The leading men sink to these levels, and the opposition stands invisible. Many have difficulty differentiating opposition from the government; there are robust perceptions of a joining at the hip. As the government curses the people of this country, the latter hold the opposition responsible for this ‘eye-pass’ and another pass of an unprintable kind. Rightly, some might argue unfairly so, the responsibility for all of this begins and ends with the leadership.
It is the leadership of a true company man, the kind that William H Whyte Jr wrote of in The Organization Man as “obtrusive in no particular, excessive in no zeal.” If someone with no knowledge of political affairs and life in Guyana were to study existing postures and lack of intensity, the conclusion would be that all the great questions have been answered; all the stern challenges overcome; and all the aspirations of society have been realized. Sure, that would be the measure of a stranger. But Guyanese suffering and lost, tormented and ridiculed know different; they know only of a slick government buttressed by a slapstick opposition, and that when a tribune is needed, there is anachronism.
No self-respecting leader of any stature desires to be a burden to party or company or country; he or she flinches from the shame of being carried, and of being the object of derision. This is the state that quite a few believe exists.
The existing opposition presence constitutes an eyesore and a political culture equivalent to that of an omnipresent intestinal virus. Many twist with pent-up agony. They long for the relief of some semblance of equity. No Guyanese possessing of any patriotic sinew could have issues with constructive engagement. However, it is another matter to collaborate to the extent of lying down and playing dead time and again.
From all reports, people in the leading party are dissatisfied and dismayed at where they have been taken, and the rest of us in the process of perpetuating the highly suspect, and the maintenance of this obscenity of a government. The anguish of Guyanese flourishes; there is destitution in opposition ranks. And still there is this holding on against all that is good.
Perhaps the most damning indictment comes from the most surprising of corners: the PPP now loves its nemesis; it cannot bring itself to say a critical word about its conduct, especially the leader. This is a first, it tells the whole story. The man-in-the-street has serious issues with many thorny issues: he thinks that some are a considerable obstacle to a rethinking of the political approaches, a significant part of the problem. Some examples will illustrate and reiterate. There are issues regarding this abomination called VAT –all 16% of it bowing the heads of Guyanese. Where is the unyielding leadership over mysterious killings and phantom activities? What sustained objections have been tendered when the only trusted bodies are the compromised GPF and Audit Office? Where is the piercing voice of the opposition when an iron curtain of corruption shrouds government’s activities, when twenty per cent (not ten any more) becomes the cost of doing business with the government for the people? Where is this viable opposition, when daily society is savaged by base rulers?
When honourable men endeavour to do an honest job for the people, it is charitable – even politically astute – to give them a free pass occasionally. However, it is unforgivable to overlook, some say condone, the gross national piracy that prevails; to retreat from the chronic illnesses that plague the body politic and society. In fact, it is an obligation in the democratic way to probe and expose, and to pressure smartly. Except for tokenisms through formulaic protestations, there has been little of substance.
A while back it was written that time will tell if the clock has moved past the midnight hour for some leaders. It has. All the indications point to increasing disgust and malaise that accrues with each additional hour. It is time for standing aside, as the situation existing cannot continue indefinitely or unaddressed. Make way for a fresh approach. Go now! In so doing there will be remembrance for answering the call of countrymen who feel the bludgeon of a government unequal to the responsibilities of power; unreconstructed as to ideological bent; undeterred by ethical considerations; and unmoved by the blight of its afflictions.
The opposition – as manifested in existing tactics, strategies, and outlook – contributes to national prostration. Accordingly, there must be serious consideration to removal from the equation. The party, the country – even the government – will all be better. At times, one can be the wrong man in the wrong position at the wrong time with the wrong way. This is such a time.
