A well-organised electoral system versus some politically power-hungry aspirants – Part 1

Dear Editor,
Again, I have occasion to clear up some glaring anomalies as well as to reorient a misinformed PNC apologist on matters of the electoral system. In the first place, I must emancipate the mind of this writer called “Dougla” that there is no winner take all in a Proportional Representation System, (PR) as it is commonly called. For there to be a winner take all as he is suggesting, that means every last voter in Guyana would have voted for the winning party and that could never take place. The scenario he posits can only take place in a Constituency System, where a single vote defines the winner from a loser.
It is that thin boundary line between winner and loser that is of concern for some of our Caricom neighbours at the moment. It is not good for democracy and good governance. Such a close win also means that an opposition can be wiped completely out of the office with a single vote. I ask Dougla the pointed question, could he countenance a situation like this occurring here in Guyana? I am asking a simple sincere question to get an honest sincere answer.
So, let me sober up Dougla a bit to tell him this, I shudder to think of the consequences of such a scenario should ever unfold here. I see channa bombs coming from all directions and buildings going up in flames in downtown Georgetown. I hear gunfire and see innocent persons of a certain race, their friends and supporters, lying injured or dead in the streets. And mark you well, this took place in the 60s when that system was in vogue here.
One of the things Burnham violently clamoured for during that time, was that the Constituency System was a biased and outdated one that gave Indians and the PPP an unfair advantage. To quell the disturbance in this colony, the British then responded with the suspension of the Constitution and ushered in the PR System which the framers said would bring some semblance of calm and order in the Guiana of that time. But did that new PR System bring about any change in our country? The answer is no! A change to a Proportional Representation System was not the issue, the real issue was power and how to keep it. Was Burnham ever keen on a free and fair system? And the answer is a resounding no! Burnham and his PNC were interested in power and being firmly entrenched in it forever. So, whether it was Constituency or PR neither of the two suited a power-hungry despot, all he was focused on was power and how to hold on to it eternally.
The rest is history, when Burnham got into power, he tampered with the Constitution, the Judiciary, and the Police Force, in fact, he skilfully transformed every conceivable area of fairness and the keeping of law and order into his liking to produce the result he wanted. His despotic influence was felt in every facet of Guyanese existence, in the lyrics of their party song, “in field and office factory rally to the PNC”. The palm tree’s doctrine reigned supreme, maybe this is the “winner take all” theory Dougla is talking about.
But let me caution him, that those days are long gone never to return. Apparently, this apologist seems enamoured by Burnham’s tyranny, but I can tell him to keep that enthusiasm for Congress and Congress Place only, do not let that foolishness spill over into the moral and educated domain of the people. We are not going back to those dark days.

Respectfully,
Neil Adams