Dear Editor,
Alternatives for political representation in Guyana have been rendered almost non-existent by the collective failure of the PPP and PNC to facilitate the necessary constitutional reforms and to dis-associate themselves from ethnopolitical politicking. This has stifled the evolution of democracy, exemplified by the absence and limited success of social justice and political grassroots movements. The proverbial ‘more fuel on the fire’ are ethnopolitical strife both parties conveniently and calculatingly propagate, and persistent financial, economic and law enforcement corruption. The reality in Guyana is that much of our people have either migrated for a better life or are struggling to make ends meet.
However, the PPP and PNC don’t want to focus on this. Making up this group are African and Indian Guyanese who somehow believe that a vote for either party will make things better. We have been hoping for this for over 50 years despite the PPP and PNC showing us their true colours time and time again. The PPP and PNC thought that they can always count on people with the mindset of ‘I vote for the PPP because I am Indian’ or ‘I vote for the PNC because I am African’ regardless of their daily struggle and their party’s mismanagement of our nation’s resources and government. So, we have had governments doing just enough for each group, and the country as a whole, but not too much lest they lose their grip on power over these two groups. Losing their group on power means they actually have to perform well and be accountable because there are more and better alternatives.
There needs to be space for democracy to evolve to better serve a small multicultural society as ours. Part of the problem is that Guyanese have limited alternatives to political representation. Such constitutional changes require political will, that’s it! It could happen by the next sitting of Parliament. However, necessary reforms such as removing the provision of Executive Presidency, (which essentially renders any President of Guyana immune from legal consequences and accountability for his or her actions), and constitutionally ensuring that parliamentarians are directly elected by the Guyanese people means that it would not be business as usual for the PPP and PNC.
It is a telltale sign that democracy has been stifled when the nation cannot point to a single sustained or successful post-independence grassroots political movement that helped usher in a new era of inclusive governance and representative democracy. Worse yet, beyond political grassroots movements, since 1992, there has not been a single successful movement, whether labour related, electoral reform or otherwise. In fact, I put forward that the closest experience Guyana has had to a successful grassroots movement was the “Say No to Parking Meters” movement led in part by Marcel Gaskin and other persons sympathetic to the PPP.
And although the AFC was birthed primarily out of discontent with the then government’s performance, the economy, quality of life concerns and crime, philosophically, the party was conceived of as an opportunity of convenience and strategic alliance much like the PPP supported small parties that helped the party to be declared winner of the March 2020 elections. The AFC and these parties did not evolve from a grassroots movement. It is important, too, to note that the AFC, like the small parties, was embraced by the PPP and PNC to help boost their electoral prospects and public perception of broad demographic support for each party. Otherwise, if either party had no need to collate and did not find it politically useful to partner with them, there would have been no PPP or PNC led coalitions.
The takeaway here is not that a political party borne of a grassroots movement is the better alternative to one formed from another mean, that there’s a preference for grassroots movements that are solely political movements. It is that sustained and effective grassroots movements are absent in Guyana. This is likely an indication of fear of a sociopolitical backlash, complacency, contentment with things as they are or are going politically and otherwise, non-interest, or deep divisiveness.
Sincerely,
B. Bacchus
