The Trinidad Express and Trinidad and Tobago Newsday newspapers yesterday both voiced concern about the political impasse in Guyana.
“The Guyanese leaders must realise they are on a slippery slope, and they need to press a reset button for the conduct of their government and politics,” the Express said in its editorial, “Guyana must beware of that slippery slope.”
According to the editorial, President Donald Ramotar’s suspension of the National Assembly, forestalling a no-confidence vote by the opposition against his minority administration, has allowed “breathing space” for the government to function “without a terminal threat of collapse hanging over its head.”
However, it warns that should this extension be stretched to its legal limit under Guyana’s constitution, the government will be lawful but illegitimate. “Which is how the notorious regime of Forbes Burnham stayed in office for decades,” it pointed out.
The Express also noted that a response from Caricom has “as usual” been slow in coming, “so clearly the present heads see no urgency to redress that regional body’s historical acceptance and silence in the face of Burnham’s oppressions.”
It noted that the opposition parties have expressed the hope that the police and defence forces will “act on the side of the people and not allow themselves to be used against them.”
“But action or inaction on that front will be perceived as political interference in the military and quasi-military bodies, which will only exacerbate an already tense situation,” it warned.
The Express suggested that Canada, where in 2008 then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament for the very same reason, could provide a useful example for Guyana. It said the Canadian electorate later made it clear that such an action was not the best democratic practice. “In similar fashion, the Caribbean people, and their governments, should urge the Guyanese people to settle matters in the peaceful Canadian way, rather than through actions that invoke the grim and ruinous past of political unrest in that republic,” it added.
‘Keeping calm’
Meanwhile, the Newsday editorial, titled “Keeping Guyana calm,” urged “caution and calmness” in the current situation. It said a mature approach to solving its problems must be adopted by all sides, where the respect for law is balanced with the need for expressions of the will of the electorate. “To do otherwise will be an invitation to a return to the volatility that has characterised Guyana politics over the decades,” it warned.
The editorial saw “merit” in Ramotar’s reasoning for the prorogation, arguing that in a highly charged environment which is fostered by political parties being perceived along racial lines, any move which maximises stability is most welcome. “The prorogation has an utmost limit and Ramoutar (sic) has assured that if no consensus is reached he will hold an election. Such an election will, in any event, be inevitable as the government will be forced to reconvene parliament in order to pass a budget,” it observed.
It also challenged the criticism of the arbitrary suspension of the Parliament as undemocratic. “While the opposition parties have cried foul and have said the latest move is undemocratic, we beg to differ,” it says, adding that the prorogation represents “the valid exercise of a provision of the constitution,” which must “be supreme” at the end of the day.
Nevertheless, the editorial said Ramotar will have to soon face the reality that his latest move, “although well-intentioned,” may in the end be nothing more than a delaying tactic and elections must and will come. “In the meanwhile, the President has waged in favour of a situation where there is a chance of consensus, as unlikely as that might be. And a chance is better than none. It is better for Guyana as a nation to have as regular electoral terms as possible, rather than volatile governments unable to implement changes,” it added.
Newsday also emphasised the need for the region as a whole to be concerned about the situation in Guyana, while pointing out that the country is an important trading partner.
