We need to talk about a new social contract

Introduction: Stabroek News has invited the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change to submit a weekly column on governance and related matters. Only APNU has submitted a column this week.

The coalition administration that entered office in December 1964 after the People’s Progressive Party’s turbulent seven-year rule offered the majority of Guyanese the prospect of a satisfying relationship between state and citizen.

Most people then could have looked forward to adequate educational opportunities provided by the state, a comfortable standard of living, a degree of social protection through national insurance, stability in employment, a functional primary health care system and a low level of crime and disorder. The state, on the other hand, expected that citizens would pay their taxes and obey the law. That was the basis of the old ‘social contract’ ― the unwritten agreement made between citizens and state.

The PPP has been in office again for over 22 years and the country is in crisis again. There needs to be a new ‘social contract’ setting out what citizens are expected to do in return for services from the state in the post-PPP era. The country’s current crisis is a consequence of the PPP’s refusal to acknowledge its minority status in the National Assembly. The PPP has refused to alter its failed ‘winner-takes-all’ approach to governance. It has refused to seek a political consensus with A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance for Change opposition political parties to govern the country.

20140508APNUPresident Donald Ramotar’s refusal to assent to certain bills and implement motions passed by the Assembly has stuck like a bone in the throat of the Opposition. His refusal to conduct local government elections has damaged this country’s system of local democracy. His repulsive ‘prorogation’ of Parliament on 10th November 2014 took the derailment of parliamentary democracy to an unprecedented dimension and direction. Guyana cannot prosper in a condition of perpetual confrontation.

The post-PPP administration must recover public trust in the state’s ability to positively influence economic change and restore the sustainability of social policies. There must be change in the relations between the executive and legislative branches of government and between the state and its citizens. There must also be a change in the organisation and role of the state. The way out of the crisis is to promote national unity, ensure human safety and foster economic development.

The post-PPP administration must, to achieve this, embark on a new ‘social contract.’ The challenge of determining the character and content of the ‘social contract’ lies at the core of the crisis.

A new ‘social contract’ will furnish the basis for major sections of society – including the executive and legislative branches of government; trade unions; private sector and civil society – to come together to seek agreement on a broad national programme to move the country forward.

A new ‘social contract’ could be the main means of combining the talents of a wider constituency and of creating the conditions for social cooperation and economic collaboration. Such a contract would be able to reach a broad consensus on the goals of national development, to establish a sustainable institutional architecture and to create effective policy instruments for the achievement of the contract’s objectives.

The post-PPP administration must seek to establish, in accordance with CARICOM’s Charter of Civil Society for the Caribbean Community:

“… a framework for genuine consultation among the social partners in order to reach common understandings on and support for the objectives, contents and implementation of national economic and social programmes and their respective roles and responsibilities in good governance.”

The post-PPP administration must strengthen the mechanisms for tripartite consultation, in accordance with ILO Convention No. 150 on Labour Administration – 1978, that provides for an effective system of labour administration. These functions and responsibilities can be coordinated properly with the participation of workers and employers and their organisations.

 

The post-PPP administration must ensure greater consultation and cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of government instead of the PPP’s current confrontational style. The new ‘social contract’ must be aimed at the elimination of one-party domination of the government; enhancement of local, municipal and parliamentary democracy; enlargement of multi-ethnic space and the elimination of ethnic insecurity; expansion of economic enterprise and development and enrichment of cultural life and national consciousness.

APNU will continue to work with the major sections of society – including other political parties; trade unions; private sector and civil society – to realise our people’s quest for consensus on a broad national programme to move the country forward.

APNU will continue to work to harness the talents of a broader constituency, to foster the conditions for social cooperation, to deepen the democratic process and to develop the economy.

The post-PPP administration will have to restore a cooperative relationship between citizens and the state. A new ‘social contract’ must be agreed upon in order to address Guyana’s pressing political, economic and social problems and to foster greater unity, security and progress.