At the memorial for the late Robert Corbin, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo praised the willingness of Mr. Corbin to engage with the government of which he was then President and the Mr. Corbin’s firm defence of the interests of his party. The Vice President’s reflections ranged far and wide, but their most compelling aspect was the need for the PPP and PNCR to “change the old way of race-based political thinking and work together for their survival and the country.” He said: “… the future of Guyana would involve at some level and some fashion, whatever that framework may be, these parties working together. They have to, of necessity.” Hinting perhaps at the diminished state of the PNCR, Mr. Jagdeo said, “the PNC would have to decide its future in the context of the new world, its challenges, and how it would adjust its philosophy or thinking to be able to play its role in the new Guyana…Unless the PPP and the PNC change their old way of thinking, they will face extinction,” he warned.
Words such as these suggest that proposals would soon be forthcoming on the way forward so that the two parties can commence the process of “working together.” But Mr. Jagdeo seemed to be placing the burden, or equal burden, on the PNCR which is the smaller of two opposing parties while the PPP holds the reins of office and would, in normal circumstances, be expected to lead the way in “working together.” It is, according to the Vice President, for the PNCR to decide its future, its challenges, its philosophy, to be able to play its role in the new Guyana. He blamed the old bogey, lack of “trust” and appear to set it as a condition for any form of future power sharing. “If we were to bring the same mistrust that harmed us from accomplishing things at the legislative level, into the executive or the cabinet, we would have had a paralysis and the worst thing can happen to government, any government in the world is policy paralysis,” he said.
The history of the attempts of the PPP and the PNCR to work together since 1962 are well known and the reasons for their failure are equally well known. Unless there is a national crisis which makes governing impossible, even by a majority party, only a herculean political effort with demonstrable, world class statesmanship, patience and goodwill, can bring about the type of cooperation sought by the Vice President. He attributes the failures of past efforts, such as the talks with the late Robert Corbin, as based on lack of “trust.” The lack of trust is generated by the ethnic divide in our polity. This is an ingrained historical fixation. To await the dissolution of lack of trust would be like awaiting Sisyphus‘s labours in getting the boulder up the hill. It is not going to happen any time soon. It has to be built by engagement, brick by brick, over time.
As regards the parliamentary innovations, I am aware of the elevated conceptions of the Vice President as to their importance, which he has expressed many times before. But the Public Accounts Committee cannot meet because of the delinquency of Government members. The Human Rights Commission, mandated by the Constitution following the constitutional reforms, has not been established by the Government since 2001. The Rights Commissions, as yet, after 25 years, have no constitutionally mandated administrative arm. The Parliamentary Sectoral Committees, or at least the Opposition members, have many complaints about their functioning. The reality is that Guyana operates a Westminster-type parliamentary system which, by its nature, breeds suspicion and mistrust. Parliamentary power-sharing cannot exist in such conditions. A different type of parliamentary system is needed for parliamentary power sharing to develop and flourish.
Mr. Jagdeo limited his call for the PPP and PNCR to work together and framed it against the background of past talks with the PNCR. Presumably, he is seeking a similar kind of engagement that will foster “trust” and qualify the PNCR to enter the sanctum sanctorum. Well, that’s not going to happen. The lack of “trust” will cause such engagements to flounder or collapse, unless the Government is prepared to make substantial concessions at the outset, without conditions, to demonstrate its goodwill, and continue to do so.
Those of us who were around at the time of the Jagdeo/Corbin talks were very hopeful that they would succeed. They came after the Jagdeo/Hoyte talks in 2001 which laid a material groundwork to be built upon, but which eventually did not move forward. But those talks may have assisted in leading Hoyte to the conclusion one year after, that the time for shared governance had come. It was a great disappointment when the Jagdeo/Corbin talks failed. Now, Vice-President Jagdeo’s statements are welcome and point to a future that has potential for the easing of Guyana’s political gridlock. But it has to be understood that the initiatives and concessions must come from the supplicant, the Government and the PPP. Unless the PPP understands that it commands a majority of the electorate in our perpetual political race for ethno-political dominance and that it holds political office, perhaps for the long term, it must adopt a light negotiating posture.
Discussion