By Bertrand Ramcharan
Seventh Chancellor of the University of Guyana
Guyana’s fundamental challenge fifty five years after its independence, is to knit its peoples within a vision of justice, human rights, and equitable life chances. Vision is crucial for the future of the country.
Dr Cheddi Jagan, Guyana’s historic leader, once stated his vision for Guyana as follows: “We are interested in creating a free Guyana, a new society, a society free from exploitation, a society of equality and brotherhood where truly human relationships will prevail.”
His spouse and political partner, Janet Jagan, after recalling the foregoing vision, complemented it as follows: “We want a harmonious country which embraces national unity. We want people to work together; to avoid confrontation because confrontation would not carry our country forward. We have to work together and I think our Parliament is a means of working together in the interest of the nation.”
Guyana’s destiny is now in the hands of President Irfaan Ali, and his vision for Guyana would be crucial for shaping the future of the Dear Land. President Ali’s vision, to begin with, is that of the PPP. A PPP’s vision was stated as follows in its Mashramani statement in 2020: “Let’s work to ensure a vision of Guyana that is inclusive and one which delivers prosperity for all our people so that we can truly realise the goal of one people, one nation, one destiny, as captured in our national motto.” The PPP manifesto at the last election amplified on this vision.
President Ali succeeded a Government that had laid down its Vision 2040 within the framework of a Green State Strategy. According to that vision, national development policy would reflect the guiding vision and principles of the ‘green agenda’. The central objective of that vision was development that would provide a better quality of life for all Guyanese derived from the country’s natural wealth – its diversity of people and abundant natural resources (land, water, forests, mineral and aggregates, biodiversity.
Key messages of the foregoing Vision 2040 were that by 2040 “Citizens are healthy and well educated, enjoy acceptable standards of living and the rights of vulnerable groups are protected. Guyana is governed by inclusive, transparent and accountable institutions, that efficiently manage the natural patrimony and encourage citizen participation.” Alas, actions spoke louder than words.
Turning to President Ali’s vision for Guyana, he told the nation in his inaugural address: “I will be President for all the people of Guyana, and I will serve each of you with affection, without discrimination and with every attention to fairness and equity… From this day forward, our one nation and our people must join together to peacefully transition our country to a pathway of economic and social development at home, and respect and regard abroad.”
His intention, he added, was to open up every part of the country, and to join them up so that new opportunities would be created for housing settlements and businesses. He would invest in training and re-training the work force so that they could stake their claim in the nation’s prosperity. His administration would tackle hunger and malnutrition.
“This land”, President Ali added, “is our land – Every Guyanese has a right to live in it, work in it and thrive in it.” He pledged to pursue inclusionary Constitutional Governance stating: “We will conduct a national conversation in which all ideas will contend and all voices will be heard. And always, we will enhance parliamentary democracy, support an independent and efficient judiciary and ensure that the rule of law and the constitutional rights of very Guyanese are respected by all.” The national conversation mentioned is yet to gather momentum.
Every life in the nation mattered, President Ali declared, “and my Government will ensure that every life is protected from harm.” He recognized: “We still have a nation to build and a people to raise up.” These were flowery words indeed, if so far awaiting follow-up.
In his Address to the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September, 2020, President Ali repeated his vision: “My government is committed to greater political inclusion and to enacting institutional reforms to ensure that democracy, the rule of law and constitutional rights are respected. My Government recognizes the dignity and worth of the human person and is determined to secure for the country’s citizens a higher standard of living.”
President Ali recognized that as a low-lying coastal State, Guyana is acutely aware of the high toll of extreme weather conditions. He underlined that in the Decade of Action and Delivery of Sustainable Development “We must be focused on eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions. No one must be left behind.”
Such, then, are the elements of a national vision that one can glean from the public pronouncements of the young President thus far. It would be fair to say that his vision, as declared thus far, is one of broad strokes and less concreteness. Guyana remains a deeply divided nation, “two countries living under one roof” in the memorable words of Ralph Ramkarran to the New York Times. The country is crying out for healing, individual security, equitable life chances, and cultural enhancement. Each of these requires vision as well as concrete legislative and institutional action.
Healing will only come through arrangements for governance that have the confidence of the Guyanese people. Individual security requires that each Guyanese be brought to feel a sense of belonging in the country. Equitable life chances requires the implementation of fundamental economic, social and cultural rights alongside civil and political rights. Cultural enhancement will be fostered when every Guyanese feels earnestly that she or he belongs to one nation, one people, one destiny.
In our offerings on the future of Guyana we have always confined our self to broaching thoughts and ideas for exploration and not to enter the political fray. In this spirit, while recognizing the political dynamics within the major political parties, we wonder whether a Presidential Commission on a Future Vision for Guyana might be helpful. It could be non-political and non-partisan. It could bring in a measure of concreteness currently lacking in the flowery speeches thus far. History beckons the young President to rise to the challenges of building “One Nation, One People, One Destiny.”
This process cannot be driven by any one political party alone. That is a fundamental lesson from Guyana’s history that a humble son of Windsor Forest permits himself to offer to the illustrious son of Leonora, both villages nurtured by the invigorating Atlantic.
