The silly season can be applied to any situation that is ludicrous, farcical, or that demonstrates a lack of intellect or common sense. It is a season that never seems to end in Guyana.
This season exposes depravity, hate, arrogance and the folly of some of our citizens. Evidence suggests that many Guyanese lack critical thinking skills, lack comprehension or are simply daft. The authors of the plots that incite this season are determined to keep those who are vulnerable or easily manipulated in a state of powerlessness. They want to protect corrupt practices for the sake of power.
Insanity is said to be demonstrated by doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. If Guyana were a woman she would perhaps be in an institution, in a straitjacket, dazed, confused and frustrated because despite giving her children everything they need to be great, they continue to repeat mistakes that slow and disrupt progress. Instead of coming together as children of the same mother to be a collective body so that she can stand strong and proud and be the envy of other nations, they have refused to behave like siblings.
The Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that the No Confidence Motion was passed and that the appointment of the GECOM chairman was illegal. The opposition is calling for elections now. The government is saying that house-to-house registration must take place because the current voters’ list is expired.
Guyana’s current political structure should expire. Some of the people who want to rule this country, their political careers should expire because they are tyrants, elitists, racists and, therefore, not fit to rule this nation. Haven’t the Guyanese people had enough? Has any Guyanese government and opposition ever truly put their differences aside to work for the benefit of the people?
It is admirable that there is a section of our population that continues to call for social cohesion, but in the silly season social cohesion becomes discord for many. Party loyalists and skinfolk loyalists would eat bricks and mud and convince themselves that it is bread. In this silly season, they would even believe that cows can fly because their party leader said so.
The government of the day has made some progress, but some of their flaws include the arrogance of some people who make up the government, their disconnect from the people and the ineffectiveness of some of the ministers. Those flaws should not, however, negate any progress that was made in the four years or ignore the people who have actually worked and made genuine efforts for progress of this nation.
The silly season has men and women arguing in public about when elections should be, who should rule and making statements like, “When de drugs de flowing through the country we used to have more money.”
The fact that I have heard this statement several times disturbs me. I guess some people would accept any level of corruption as long as they are benefitting, regardless of how it destabilises the country or causes bloodshed.
There have always been mainly two main opponents in the struggle to decide who rules Guyana. Both have had the chance. Both have been accused of failure. Both have been criticised. Both have accused the other of not being competent to rule. They have made little efforts to put aside their differences to come together and work as one to move Guyana forward. After the PNC’s 28 years and the PPP/C’s 23 years, during which they both faced allegations and evidence of dictatorship and corruption, and the APNU+AFC‘s four years, we are still divided.
But our voices are loud now because we can speak without fear. In the silly seasons of the past, many people were afraid to speak, and some lost their lives. Our voices are loud now because many of us are tired of the repetitions that have shaped Guyana so far and again, we, the people, will have to go to the polls faced with the same options and maybe some third party that does not stand a chance of winning, in hopes that next time we will get it right.
It is a season of uncertainness, aggression and selective amnesia. The hate that is being spewed and the delusion in this country is sickening, disappointing and should not be excused. For too long the Guyanese people have been given wood, but no matches to light a fire, leaky containers to fetch water, poison to make edible. But we continue to tolerate many of the tyrants that call themselves leaders and excuse their misdeeds. We are ready to bow and kiss their feet because we believe in them. But do they believe in us?
If the Guyanese people can come together and say no to the disunity and refuse to vote for either the current government or opposition, maybe greater change will come. If we were brave enough to demand constitutional reform, which would include shared governance, maybe then greater change will come.
Despite whatever efforts any government would have made to be inclusive or cohesive, there have always been sections of the population that have felt ostracised because their man or woman was not the most powerful decision maker and, in some instances, they were victimised and treated as insignificant. But the problem is that many of us, the people, still do not know that we hold the power to be the decision makers. What we should be doing instead of marching for party or skinfolk is marching for our rights as a people. Marching to stop the abuse of power. Marching to hold those guilty of corruption accountable. Marching for the right to be put first and to have governments that truly care about the development of Guyana and its people and not just tyrants who want to sit on the barrels of oil for their own benefit.
