Dear Editor,
Great first step Mr. President! I want to acknowledge your courage and to encourage you to take some further steps that could set in train a great revolution in the political-social-economic climate of and prospects for Guyana.
I speak of the Coalition Government’s acceptance of the resignation of all Coalition Members of Parliament who are holders of dual citizenship. This is a step incurring great loss for our Coalition Government, for no longer being MPs, they could no longer be Ministers. Conceivably, former Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, could end up following in the footsteps of former Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, and becoming your HPS, doing essentially the same powerful job (excepting the signature of a Minister). Of course, I will take the commercial break here, and say that our Leader of the Opposition (LOP) of our PPP/C has led the way. I must note also, and in noting commend former Prime Minister Hamilton Green, arguably the only remaining founding member of the PNC, for leading or clearing the way with his letter published in yesterday’s newspapers: `There can be no sand dancing by MPs on the issue of dual citizenship’ in Stabroek News and `On the Front-Line’ in Kaieteur News. One could only imagine that former Prime Minister Hamilton Green had been espousing this for some days if not weeks.
When our Coalition Government had advanced the challenge of the dual citizenship of Charandass Persaud as ineligibility for him to have been in Parliament, and to vote, I wondered what could have been their frame of mind, knowing that others of their leaders/Ministers were also dual citizens. I worried that it could only be a manifestation of an unquestioned intent to apply our laws selectively – a main plank of fear and control of our 64 – 92 era. Let us proclaim forever an end to the exploitatively selective application of our Laws in Guyana.
Having taken one step Mr. President, breaking our current logjam, I want to encourage you to take some other similar steps which could truly turn a new page for Guyana. The first would be that, whatever the legal merits, call a halt to the challenge that 34 is the majority required for the NCM to have been carried. In an argument for us to be sensible, in yesterday’s newspapers your former PNCR Member of Parliament, Mr. Tony Vieira, states that if 33 members could claim and form a government, then 33 members should be able to end a Government.
The other issue I bring to you Mr. President, comes out of the recent Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) report on their investigations of complaints about the non-preference of Mr. Vishnu Persaud for the post of the Deputy CEO at GECOM, the behaviour of your GECOM Chairman, former Justice Patterson, and others.
Mr. President, from my reading of parts of the ERC report and the Editorials of last Tuesday (2019-03-26) in Kaieteur News and yesterday (2019-04-01) in Stabroek News, it is clear (I think) that Justice James Patterson, perhaps acting on what he might have thought might have been expected of him, from the 70s and 80s, has shown himself to be a person not fit and proper to continue in Office in these days; and for the restorative placement of Mr. Vishnu Persaud as Deputy CEO of GECOM. Mr. President, there can be little thought that either or much less both of the Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News have turned pro-PPP/C. We would want our newspapers to be anti-nobody and pro-nobody.
Mr. President, I can say that when Mr. Vishnu Persaud was passed over for the post of Deputy CEO, our PPP/C Commissioners were stunned – and I, too, over time had been turning to the view that, certainly without written agreement, and most likely without spoken agreement, that particularly at the top of GECOM, there was developing a practice of a distribution of offices that at least in appearance would give some comfort to each main party and its supporters. I know that at the time of the appointment of Mr. Keith Lowenfield as CEO, a number of our PPP persons offered no-objection and some were even supportive. From my limited reading of the ERC report, I could only continue to consider no case was made to show him other than even handed in our overcharged Guyana situation.
Mr. President I too was filled with consternation and regret when Mr. Vishnu Persaud was passed over. Let me say with apologies to whomsoever was not so bent, I saw the changed position of the Coalition Commissioners as the demand and intent of old guard PNC persons to fully capture GECOM and open the door to any number of past and new subterfuges. As I said earlier my apologies to all whom I might have silently, internally, accused and in that context let me extend apologies in this regard to former Prime Minister Hamilton Green.
Mr. President, it will seal matters and really open the door to all sorts of good new beginnings of greater, growing harmony on new pages for the history of our country and people, if you were to now choose, one of the eighteen names submitted by our LOP Bharrat Jagdeo, to be a new GECOM Chairman.
Mr. President, allow me to say that I am all for shared governance but am still uneasy about shared – cabinet Government. A Guyana for all has been long in the PPP’s and PNC’s bones and I believe that the history of our country would justify that we, PPP and PNC, have paid our dues. As our LOP had been moved to declare in Parliament there is not one less dollop of patriotism in us, PPP and PNC. We have significant differences in views and approaches to growing and developing our people and country which should be tempered with the knowledge that we are all equally entitled.
Without rejecting the idea of shared- cabinet Government (if a majority of us Guyanese were to so vote) I think that what we want to get to, is the position where, recalling recent columns of “Future Notes” of my former colleague Minister, Dr. Henry Jeffrey, there is sufficient mutual toleration and institutionalized forbearance, so that it matters little who rules (whatever his/her race). I have heard my PPP colleagues speak of Dr. Cheddi Jagan saying that there is always need for a good Opposition which could take the reins of Government and life should continue to be livable for everyone. As our LOP said, we should expect robust presentation and competition of our different views – without any loss of honour between and amongst our political leaders, parties and supporters.
As I have voiced, President Hoyte (and/or Mr. Hamilton Green) could have after accepting that the poll would have had to be fair in 1992 – could have taken a next step and say (as Mr. Raphael Trotman seems at one time to have been urging) that yes we PNC have had rigged elections but we have now turned the page – we are now a new reformed PNC that has put managed elections behind us. Perhaps the loss at 1992 for the PNC would have been greater, perhaps not – but the PNCR would have gone to the 1997 and subsequent Elections without the baggage of the 64 to 92 period. Our history from 1992 could have been very different and much more prosperous.
There have been points for turning in our history: first steps made but hearts have failed and additional steps to complete the turn have eluded us. May this not be another such occasion. It is true that leaders must lead but cannot be too far ahead of their supporters. I believe our leaders could be bold at this time: the cycle might be turning. The relative calm of our people (social media excepted) since the NCM, may be read as an indication that our grassroots Guyanese are open to a call for a change, a turn to a new leaf. We may be haltingly overcoming our insecurity dilemmas.
We Guyanese and Guyana are very much a people and a country in the making. Yesterday’s step by our President in our recent happenings, is a great first step, and others which he is being encouraged herein to take could well, bring about a significant turn in our history to better.
Yours faithfully,
Samuel A.A. Hinds
Former President and former Prime Minister
