As the dust settles following the May 11 elections and their tension-filled aftermath, a few ironic comparisons with 1992 have not gone unnoticed.
Then, as now, a government that had been in power for more than two decades was rejected by a weary populace. Admittedly, the margin of victory for the PPP/C in 1992 was bigger than that gained by the APNU+AFC coalition last week. Then, the PPP/C won 53.5 per cent of the popular vote to the PNC’s 42.3 per cent, securing just under 24,000 more votes than the PNC and 28 seats to 23. This time, as we all know and would do well to keep in mind, the margin was razor-thin, with the coalition obtaining 50.29 per cent to the PPP/C’s 49.2 per cent, winning by less than 5,000 votes and with a parliamentary majority of just one seat.
In both cases, international observers, in particular, the Carter Center, and the so-called ABC countries (America, Britain and Canada) was critical in ensuring that the polls were free and fair. Thus, ‘the return to democracy’ of 1992 has now been supplanted by ‘the dawn of a new era.’
In 1992, President Desmond Hoyte was able to overcome some internal dissent to concede, recognising that if he held onto power, his government would lack legitimacy and international credibility. Many PNC supporters were not so graciously inclined, however, and Georgetown was turned into a ghost city for almost a week, with tension and fear lingering for some time longer.
On the other hand, after 28 years of PNC rule, the PPP/C’s supporters were ecstatic and it was not long before they were openly celebrating their new-found ‘freedom’. And it was not long either before triumphalism reared its ugly head.
This time around, the boot has been well and truly on the other foot, with the PPP/C, after almost 23 years in office, resisting the reality of the result and some of the coalition’s following behaving as if they had, in turn, been relieved of the yoke of oppression. Sad to say, there have been reports of triumphalism in some quarters, some of it racially tinged.
Perhaps, this is what happens when a nation has to endure lengthy spells under one party then another. All people know is what they have had to endure. Almost everyone becomes a prisoner of the past. And the political pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. There is no middle ground staked out in the interest of reconciliation, and the moral high ground is surrendered to the settling of political and personal scores and, increasingly, the pursuit of narrow agendas.
The churlish reactions of ex-President Donald Ramotar and PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee, in some respects mirroring the resentment of the PNC in 1997 and 2001, in particular, would seem to support this contention. Indeed, the official PPP position since the announcement of the election result certainly does not contribute to the image of a mature political culture in the country.
In this context, it is now up to President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to deliver on the promise of leadership that will promote inclusion and the forging of a national consensus, one that will reject the politics of division and eventually win over even those who voted for the PPP/C.
The President, the Prime Minister and the newly sworn-in ministers must move quickly to allay fears and build trust, at the same time that they must clean up the mess inherited from their predecessors.
And whilst it will not be possible to please all of the people all of the time, there may still be hope for Guyana. The vote for the coalition would seem to support the widely held belief that it was the beneficiary of cross-over voting from Guyanese of Indian descent and the endorsement of young people, unwilling to lug around the baggage of the past.
The APNU+AFC coalition would therefore be well advised to bear this in mind. This new government must lead, with a vision for the country’s development, never losing sight of the need to communicate and consult, for consensus can only be built on the foundations of inclusion, which demands communication and consultation. Otherwise, it will be yet another false dawn in our country’s chequered history.
We need to balance the pendulum of change; we need it to settle into a regular and rhythmic pattern, one that guarantees equilibrium and stability.
