Dear Editor,
The Chinese philosopher and poet Lao Tzu famously said, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves.” I do not pretend to be a leader, but having considered our past and current political conditions in Guyana, it is incumbent that new leaders rise up with practical and innovative ways to heal the wounds of today and yesterday. Comparatively speaking, we are a very small nation, unknown to most of the world (except when Jim Jones is mentioned), but very innovative and a population that is always prepared to give of their best when asked to do it. I say innovative, because it amazes me to see that Guyanese can make anything work. This innovation must be credited to Forbes Burnham who banned almost everything, so the people were forced to make the things they have work for them. The people have done a great job at making things work.
Imagine the innovation of the Guyanese people, yet the political leaders seem to have no vision. I salute the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago who seems to show more fortitude than almost all of our leaders in Guyana. It is a travesty for the people of our country who deserve better. I have proposed that we rewrite our constitution and dramatically change the way we govern our country. My proposal is as follows:
Each parliamentarian will be elected within their own constituency of 25,000 persons by 50% plus 1 vote.
Parliament will be full time. Parliamentarians will not be ministers of government.
The prime minister will be elected directly by the entire electorate with 50% plus 1 vote and will be the head of government.
The prime minister will nominate 12 persons to be ministers of government. The nominees must be approved by a simple majority of parliament.
The prime minister will nominate 9 members for each constitutional commission. Each nominee must be approved by a simple majority of parliament.
The president will be elected directly by the people with 50% plus 1 vote.
The president will be the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
All constitutional commissions, etc, will report to the president.
My proposal for the reduction or elimination of racial voting will require that each political party must be composed of all ethnic groups within Guyana proportionate to the ethnic composition of the population. In other words, if the population is 40% Indian origin, 30% African origin, 20% mixed race and 10% Amerindian, then in order for any political party to contest an election it must have that composition in its membership. Obviously this combination will change after every census to reflect the new reality. It will be the responsibility of the Elections Commission to ensure that this mechanism is in place.
This applies only to a political party that seeks to contest for political office. Any individual will be allowed to contest for any seat within any constituency without the need to fulfil this requirement. However, that individual will have to secure a set number of signatures within the constituency, or pay a deposit on their nomination, or both. If the individual did not get a certain percentage of the total votes cast, the deposit will be forfeited. This will likely reduce the amount of independent candidates, and will be less complicated for the elections commission.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sugrim
