Dear Editor,
I have always argued that the actions of the PPP/C government over the years beginning with the Janet Jagan period and exacerbated during the Bharrat Jagdeo years, demonstrate that the government has little or no respect for the citizenry. What is sad is that the government seems not to care about what it says or does, and there is no concern for how the people will react to controversial positions taken by it. The PPP/C probably thinks that the people might not be capable of analyzing the demerits of its actions, or that they couldn’t care less about the possible negative impact of those positions on their lives.
This situation I find very insulting and unfortunately, there appears to be a deepening disrespect on the part of this administration for the intelligence of the masses. This must be of concern to every Guyanese, as I believe that we understand the value of self respect, self worth and personal dignity. We also have to be able to say that our value as a people is not reflected in the government’s posture on many issues.
One can go back to as far as the 1997 elections when Mrs Janet Jagan, in full public view, threw a court order served on her, over her shoulder while then Attorney General Doodnauth Singh commended her for publicly flouting the law. Many believed that this took us on the rapid path to disrespecting both Guyanese and our basic institutions. What is sad is that Mrs Jagan never took the opportunity to apologize to the Guyanese public for that most contemptuous act and we the people might not have made sufficient demands on her to do so. No one in the leadership of the PPP/C sought to denounce that act either.
In examining a few of the recent acts and positions we can reflect on the continued abuse of the court system by the government, where every act of the parliamentary majority, ie acts of the people, seems to attract a challenge in the court by this administration. The latest and most obnoxious one is the challenge by the government to the no-confidence motion passed against Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee. The people, through their representatives in the parliament, said they had lost confidence in the Minister, but the PPP/C government is saying to the people you cannot lose confidence in the man we have confidence in, albeit you are the majority. This kind of thinking obscures one of the most basic principles of democracy which is that the majority rules with minority rights respected. This is the height of disrespect; it is saying that you might not want him but we are saying that you have to take him. In a sense this attitude might be tantamount to bullyism.
We have also heard President Donald Ramotar say to Guyanese that he will not assent to any bills passed by the parliamentary opposition alone.
He is saying to the people that they, who comprise the majority in the legislative arm of the state, will not get the cooperation from him, the president, even if they have passed the most progressive bill which will benefit the country.
The fact is that although we’ve heard this comment, many of us seem to think it is not a big deal or that it does not affect us, so there is not much public outrage about it. It is because of the semi-mute position of many of us that the PPP/C, I believe, feels empowered to openly disrespect us.
Sometimes I feel that we live in two Guyanas, one which speaks for one set of people, which it thinks it owns, and one which disregards another set of people which it feels no obligation towards. However, regardless of these two perceptions, inherent in both of them is that element of disrespect for both sets of people. So the end result is that none of us are better off, as disrespect seems to be the common to both of us, if only we were prepared to admit it.
A quick illustration is the recent Linden atrocity where three innocent, African-Guyanese civilians were killed by members of the Guyana Police Force and the President failed to visit the relatives and offer condolences; there was also the case of 17-year-old Shaquille Grant, an African-Guyanese of Agricola right in Georgetown, who was killed by members of the Guyana Police Force and again neither the President nor any member of his cabinet showed up to offer condolences to the grieving family. However, in the case of Detective Jirbahan Dianand of Corentyne, an Indo-Guyanese who was executed by criminals, the President went to Corentyne to express condolences to the relatives. Now, these are the glaring inconsistencies which we witness daily, and they are perpetrated because of disrespect for all of us.
I believe that any government that has a high regard for its people would appreciate the implications of these inconsistent approaches to situations which may demand a similar or the same reaction. I can go on to highlight many more examples but this newspaper would run out of space. What is clear though is that as a people, regardless of which Guyana we find ourselves in, we must demand that the government respect and value us as worthy citizens. We must also reject this notion of two Guyanas foisted upon us by this administration.
We must also call the government out on those actions and positions adopted by it that work against our very beliefs and values, and which we consider to be likely to drive a wedge between us rather than pull us together.
I believe that we have a responsibility, regardless of whether or not we are supporters of the PPP/C government to call them out on those things which are inimical to national development and which are blatantly disrespectful to all of us. It was Mahatma Gandhi who said, “They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it them,” while President Harry Truman stated, “We must build a new world, a far better world – one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected.”
I may add that it would be ambitious to expect anything different from a government which appears to govern with disdain and disrespect for its people.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
