Unity Talks

In recent weeks, there has been much rhetoric about the need for the newly elected Government and official Opposition in Guyana to engage in talks for ‘national unity’ and a ‘national unity Government’ and concomitantly, about creating the atmosphere of the said outcome.

Some of the more seasoned political commentators have already added their voices to the discourse. A majority of them have been critical of the opposition Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) for its negative position on the purported invitation issued to the party to start discussions by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who was reportedly selected to chair a “national unity committee”.

Others like Ralph Ramkarran, a sympathetic supporter of the new coalition Government, in attempting to push the PPP into the “talks” have muddied the waters of Guyana’s political history especially with respect to the role played by the PPP in attempting to find a permanent solution to the governance and political problem facing the country since before it gained independence back in 1966.

But what is studiously ignored is that the Government is obviously confused as to what it really wants to engage the PPP on. Some of its officials and spokespersons have floated the notion of “shared Governance” while the Prime Minister is talking about creating ‘national unity’, and the President, ‘inclusive democracy’.

Others depending on the hat they are wearing and the audience they are addressing are pushing the goal of creating a “Government of National Unity that includes the PPP as a member of that Government.

While all of these concepts may appear similar, in reality, given the evolution of political philosophy, ideologies and the inevitable dynamic nature of political science, they are distinct in their form, function and political outcomes. In fact, depending on what is being pursued, there could be massive impacts on the way future Governments are elected while requiring massive constitutional, ordinary legislative and electoral reforms.

The PPP/C has adopted the pragmatic and realistic posture from the outset given its own historical experiences. PPP’s founding father and former President Cheddi Jagan fought tirelessly through the 1960’s until the 1990’s to create national unity amongst the masses by pursuing various political, social and economic proposals which all had a nationalistic and genuine undertone. The PPP always insisted on a programmatic rather than a contrived personal approach.

Those proposals failed because of lack of genuine support and commitment from the Peoples National Congress which frustrated the process by consistently rigging elections, engaging in acts of political and ethnic manipulation during its tenure in office which deepened the racial divide in the country.

In 2003, the party finally outlined the most sensible approach to talks about national unity, shared governance and inclusive democracy. It said that parties must embark upon a process of building trust and confidence among their ranks and members.

If there is any truth that there are still high levels of racial intolerance and divisiveness then the political parties hold the answer in their blossoms if they agree on a series of non-political measures to create unity and then work their way to addressing some of the most non-controversial issues related to women, children and human rights.

But the actions of the new Government have jeopardized all future relations with the PPP which is now in opposition. There are the firings (which were occurred too under the PPP/C’s tenure to a far lesser extent), the ongoing fishing expedition for acts of corruption as a means of quarantining PPP officials and settling old scores, the exclusion of the PPP in basic governance events and trips, and the continued anti-PPP posture of the new Government which are major obstacles to commencement of genuine and franks talks.

There is no formal invitation from the Offices of the Prime Minister and President for discourse and this is deliberate. The Government cannot seriously field the most objectionable candidates in the persons of Vice Presidents Nagamootoo and Ramjattan to the PPP as suggestions to lead these talks and expect the PPP/C to accept these are genuine talks on national unity. The medium can be the message.

The posture adopted by this new Government is no different from those adopted by the Governments of Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte, which were all aborted.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee know this and will not take the bait to be part of another political farce and a fatally flawed process that is bound to fail because of the animosities, lack of trust and resentment that exist amongst the political parties. Never again “national unity” be used as a means of ‘window dressing’ for the sponsors of the government. If we genuinely want real talks about unity, let us take time to craft a real agenda, outline a process and conduct discourse in the public space and for the world to see. No more closed door talks.