Forbes Burnham did not become an autocrat after he ascended to the presidency of Guyana. Indeed, it would be fair to say that his ascension to that office was made relatively simple by the fact that he had already gowned himself in dictatorial powers. Here I am not concerned with the pros and cons of Burnham’s behaviour, but what is certain is that Burnham became an autocrat because of his long stay in office and the resulting political unaccountability, caused by the persistent manipulation of national elections.
All kinds of maladies strike the body politic when politicians are entrenched in office. In our semi-parliamentary system, which is a toxic mixture of the presidential and Westminster types, governments more or less, control parliament. The separation of powers between the executive and legislature is extremely weak, except in unusual conditions such as exist in Guyana at present where the opposition controls parliament.
Added to this, the separation of powers is further weakened as the judiciary, private sector and civil society organizations are
