Dear Editor,
I thank M Maxwell for concisely summarizing the reasons against a racial federalism for Guyana. It was just incidental that the Swiss were a confederation. They could have had any form of government, but they had the sense to resort to the counsel of holy persons.
The Stabroek News published a letter from me in March 2004 giving the example of St Nicholas von Fleue. James Bentley’s ‘A Calendar of Saints’ relates:
“In 1481, the Swiss Confederation was on the verge of breaking up. The member states had defeated most of their enemies in battle. But they could not agree on how to divide the spoils. They were quarrelling too over whether or not to include Fribourg and Soleure in the Federation.
“Counsel was sought from a 64-year old hermit who lived in a tiny cell alongside a chapel in the village of Ranft, Nicholas von Flüe. Though he could neither read nor write, he had come to be regarded as the wisest person in Switzerland. On the saint’s advice the delegates of the contending parties hammered out the famous Compromise of Stans, which saved the peace and unity of the land.”
Six centuries on, Switzerland is still known for its neutrality, even if not of the original calibre.
Ten years from that letter and we are still as divided as we were then, and not even using our own local government system according to our own constitution. The problem seems to be that, unlike the Swiss, the main contending parties cannot recognise what is holy, much less consult it.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Bhulai
