Dear Editor,
Today, Monday, March 2nd marks the point from which we assemble for the way forward. The visions that I see of this are of a way that is unlike any other time prior in our post-colonial, post-Republic, and post-electoral histories. I sense this Guyana of ours standing on the doorstep of a brave new world: of challenge, of seeking for and finding ourselves, and of finally being able to live with ourselves. From the rear, near my little inconsequential corner, I commit to continue my own small offerings, which I trust, in time, will be found to be energizing and uplifting.
I say that no longer must we be content with what is enfeebling, what is emasculating, and what is dehumanizing, be such from the new ones who come to help us, sometimes exploit us, in maximizing the returns from nature’s largesse; or from those on the inside, who have flourished from an endless era of what is corrupt and unprincipled. These would be the political people, who tell us, and impress us with, how much they know of what is better for us. Whenever we listen, if we were to listen to them at all, I insist that the sterling values of what is decent, what respects and dignifies, what can take someplace be of impeccable character and be prodigious in the proofs of powerful performance. It must be otherwise.
I do not think for one moment that the lengthy litany of lies and vulgarities could be allowed to continue. Because if it does, then the record book of Guyana would repeat all the terrible curses of the past. Our political environment and social habitat would be frozen in an even worst space. The margins for weakness are painfully thin; the usual tolerance for treachery and failure from our leaders just about vanished.
All the contestants have promised us the glowing, if not the spectacularly glittering. I do not believe that most of them have it within to deliver on those promises; but we are past that stage of contemplation now. Where we are is with that which is within our own grasp, our own thinking and outlook on the way life in Guyana could be looking ahead. I have some hopes, there are these dreams; I commit to what I trust could lead us out of the hazes and hates, past the passions and poisons, and into a certain kind of light. The oil from beneath the riverbed has in its power the strength to light a whole new world for us.
But we must demonstrate that we are worthy recipients of this fabled gift, that we will make the best uses of it for the greatest good of the greatest many. It starts with our obligations today, voting day; and then tomorrow, counting day and reporting day. It is mandatory that we respect the rare blessing sent our way. This means that it cannot be about us alone, but about every other Guyanese citizen, who are active and owed participants of the national patrimony. We must become so magnanimous in victory that our benevolences extend to those who come from neighbouring territories seeking a new start, having first taken care of our own.
We must respect the process of today, Monday March 2nd, and the related ensuing components that are so integral to a conclusive outcome. I exhort further the following: respect for all other participants in this process, whether of like mind and from within our fold; or those firmly entrenched on any other side and for whatever reason. Respect for the counters and deliberators and adjudicators. Respect for the results.
For when we succeed in adhering to these modern and civilized practices, this I submit could mark the first day of a brand-new beginning, one that is electrifying and energizing, one that inspires in each and every Guyanese that he or she is a master of this universe of ours. I persist in recommending that we embrace the heavy responsibilities that are also part of our rights. Let us show the world and each other that we are up to the tasks at hand; they start with how we conduct ourselves this week, and in the long succeeding aftermath.
For too long, the world has mocked us and dismissed us. This we did bring upon ourselves in the unthinking frenzies of domestic politics. The time for that is over. I think the time has to begin for us to anticipate quality governance of an unprecedented nature; it must be the order of the day. It must be so pure that the dirty ones calculating how they will arrange the plums will be sent running for cover without finding any place to hide.
I tender that the days of troubled governance must end and now. May March present us with the birth of a Great Guyanese era. It starts with reciprocal respect. And with being responsible to the highest degree possible.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
