Dear Editor,
I beg to add my support to the sentiments expressed in the letter columns by Mark DaCosta under the caption, ‘Our leaders must face the elephant in the room’ (SN, November 14). Rather than allowing his thinking and analysis of the situation in Guyana to remain stagnated in terms of what change and reform mean in our political context, Mark dares to go where many seem reluctant, or indeed fearful to go. Change and reform as articulated by Mark, involve more than the simple changing of the chauffeur of the dysfunctional and dilapidated political vehicle in which we have been travelling over the past five decades. It means a complete repair and re-furbishing of that vehicle, replacing all the defective parts that detract from its functionality, and guaranteeing that regardless of who takes a position at the wheel, the passengers can be assured of steady progress in the direction they wish to go, and the common destination they set out to reach.
I agree with Mr DaCosta that clichés and metaphors are not always considered appropriate in the examination of the serious political and social issues that have obstructed the progress of our nation, but there are occasions when it is prudent to employ analogies to break down complex situations and issues into common realities that all and sundry can more easily understand and relate to, and I do believe that this is one such occasion.
After five decades plus of politics and governance that have meant a cyclical exchange of one power base with another, is it not time that the structures be revisited, analyzed and reformed in order to end that cyclical political dysfunction once and for all? Is it not past time for the ‘great minds’ in our national collective to experience the kind of social epiphany that brings them to this conclusion? Is it not imperative at this time for the interests, concerns, security and well-being of our nation and its peoples have priority over individual and partisan political ambitions and aspirations? For surely we cannot be so blinded by partisan ethnic, cultural and political associations and affinities that we continue to mimic the proverbial ostrich when it senses something it considers unwelcome in its environment.
Today we are at the crossroads where we have to decide whether we will continue in the same direction we have been heading over the past five decades, or whether we will come to grips with the reality that it is taking us down the road to perdition. We have a responsibility to pursue a direction that augurs well for our children and their children, for the generations to come. We need to understand that good leaders are best nurtured in their roles in social environments where there are role models and examples worthy of emulation. That is certainly not too much to ask from the current generation of leaders.
I implore my fellow countrymen and women to take cognizance of the views and perspectives of the Mark DaCostas, the Ruel Johnsons, the Tarron Khemrajs, the Mark Benchops, the Gerhard Ramsaroops and the many other too numerous to mention, young and not so young, endowed with the intellectual agility and courage to chart a new direction in our thinking. I urge citizens to recognize the direction of their thoughts, their understanding of what amounts to changes and reform, and what amounts to a simple re-parcelling of the same old tired and anachronistic ideas and narratives. No political party or government should be an island and a permanent fixture from generation to generation. No political system that provides incentive for parties to seek and retain power by pandering to ethno-racial enclaves can be beneficial in any diverse and heterogeneous society. And no government or political organization that depends on this as a useful tool for acquiring and retaining hegemonic power over a society will ever change that direction, unless and until that tool becomes obsolete as a catapult for their egos and ambitions.
Governments are accountable and responsible when they are made to operate and function within a parameter of rules that are enforceable by the relevant institutions, and by the will of an educated and no-nonsense electorate. And those conditions will only obtain when the citizens of our nation become more concerned with, as referenced by Mr DaCosta, how we wish to be govoerned, as opposed to by whom we wish to be governed. Because when the former becomes our priority, then it matters not even if a leprechaun gets into the highest office of government and power.
Yours faithfully,
Keith R Williams
