Dear Editor,
Your last Sunday editorial `No coalitions’ highlights a grave gap in our country’s political debate. It portrays race as the major consideration in voting to elect the government. Even if it were the case shouldn’t a responsible press be promoting and leading intelligent debate on the real issues to take the country out of the perceived racial problem? I say perceived as my Guyanese experience does not include race as a problem. Guyana’s real stifling problem as I experienced and see is bullyism with race being used as its convenient tool of the bullies. They have vilified those who ventured outside their race. Bullies have scared those outside from joining them. Bullies are defying the laws and use them to their convenience. Your editorial focuses on the ethnic numbers game as the key factor in Guyana’s politics. There is absence of any assessment of the quality of democratic and economic leadership provided by the political parties to the country’s development. As part of the press shouldn’t your role be leading the debate on intelligent choice of leadership for our country rather than reinforcing perceived ethnic voting?
We have, over the years, seen what the different political parties offered and gave. The best you can do in service to Guyana is encourage objective assessment of what the parties offered in the past and what they gave. How much they contributed to improving the quality of life and preserving our rights? What are they offering now and what can be expected based on past performance? These should be the issues. Not the ethnic numbers which would only serve to keep our country stuck in the past while the rest of the world moves on.
Through your Editorial you influence and shape opinions. Surely we the people are intelligent and have more than race to consider in the choice of government. To continue to paint Guyanese as racial in voting is an insult to our intelligence. It is perpetuating a bullyism that emerged in the 1950s and continues to plague our country. It is taking us back to the pre-90s dark dictatorship days.
Shouldn’t the press, through editorials be promoting what is good in, and for us, rather than perpetuating perceived ethnic voting. For a better Guyana, lead the debate on issues. About Guyana. Not about race. Leave the baser leanings to the bullies. Lead the debate to shape a brighter future for Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Art Foster
