Election smokescreens

Guyana continues to prove time and time again, that it has a strange political culture that is never constant but always changing given the mood and agenda of its key political actors. Whether this change is good or bad depends on the outcome of the issues that are affected by our very dynamic political culture.

President Ramotar announced May 11 as the day when Guyanese would be given the opportunity to once again vote for a party of their choice after three years of political stalemate and a dysfunctional Parliament which was marred by deadlock.

The President considered the uneasiness that was taking place in the society following his prorogation of Parliament and repeated commitment to call elections in light of the campaign being waged by his political opponents.

Though not agreeing at all with the sentiments expressed by the Opposition political parties and the diplomatic corps, as well as civil society groups, he took note of their concerns before choosing to cut his term short by one and a half years.

One would have thought that the Opposition would have welcomed the President’s announcement and the fact that he kept his word. One would have thought that the Opposition parties would have celebrated the President’s announcement that he would be inviting local, regional and international observers for the elections. One would have expected the political Opposition parties to demonstrate maturity by urging Guyanese to exercise their franchise in a free and democratic manner in keeping with the spirit of the President’s announcement.

But none of these expectations were met and the political culture in Guyana saw the Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) making a fresh wave of accusations against the President which seeks to undermine his word and integrity.

These would-be coalition partners are now trying to cast doubt in the minds of Guyanese that he will dissolve Parliament, even though they know that he has until February 11 constitutionally to do so.

They are now alleging that Ramotar’s Government is abusing State resources without establishing any evidence to this effect. Were the AFC and APNU interested in reducing Government’s access to State resources before elections, they could have used their one-seat majority to pass legislation in the 10th Parliament.

The Opposition has started their campaign by throwing accusations at the President for the date chosen, which clashes with some Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations.

These parties have done so when they know that ample arrangements could be put in place by both GECOM and the Government to ensure that there are no disruptions in this process. But it would appear that now that the President has set a date, there is reluctance on the part of the local political Opposition to get on with the elections.

Both the APNU and AFC are reported in the media as saying that they are financially sound and ready to compete any elections to remove the PPP/C at a moment’s notice. Therefore they must not pay lip service to this stance, but must look to the wider issues like convincing voters that they can be trusted to continue the unprecedented progress started by the PPP/C.

They must select their Presidential and Prime Ministerial Candidates soon so that the public can have enough time to vet them. They must look at their lists and present their plans to the country’s populace.

Creating smokescreens, diversions and manufactured red-herrings will not convince the large amount of Guyanese who voted for the PPP/C to remain in office during the 2011 elections that they must rethink their position.

In fact, by announcing May 11 as the elections date, the President and his party can now work briskly to achieve their goal of securing another majority and continuing the uninterrupted progress Guyana has enjoyed since the PPP/C rose to power in 1992.