Minerva is the Roman version of Athena, the Greek Goddess of wisdom, who is always depicted with an owl. Back in the 19th Century, the philosopher Hegel offered an aphorism that has withstood the test of time: “the Owl of Minerva spreads its wings (flies) only with the falling of the dusk”. Rather poetically, the usually plodding philosopher was telling us that wisdom only arrives after the fact; after the deed is done; when we can look backwards and reflect.
In Guyana, we have just commemorated our 52nd anniversary of our Independence, when we were promised the “democratic governance” finally ushered in after centuries of British “tutelage”. What can the Owl of Minerva tell us now about that promise? It is not a quibble whether the means of introducing that democracy was flawed, rather it is one of the fundamental facts to be considered when examining the state of our democracy today. And not only from the philosophical standpoint that means and ends cannot be disjunctured: we have to look at the concrete means used, the concrete ends sought and the concrete results achieved.
The People’s National Congress (PNC) achieved office, with the help of the much smaller United Force (UF) that agreed to coalesce with it to “outnumber” the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government. But it soon became clear this was a “coalition of convenience” – simply to oust their common PPP enemy – and not a “coalition of commitment”, wherein the parties to the coalition are genuinely committed to stated principles dedicated to the development of democracy in Guyana. The UF was soon diminished by the PNC; its Members of Parliament (MPs) bought out and eventually its leader, Peter D’Aguiar, quit in disgust.
What does the Owl of Minerva teach us from that sordid slice of history? That in any coalition Government, once the larger party breaks the agreement because of what they consider to be the “disequilibrium in size”, the smaller parties must quit if democratic governance is to be maintained. The moment they go along with the show of bad faith, the slippery slope of irrelevance gets slipperier. Today in Guyana, it is an irrefutable fact that the smaller parties are only window dressing for the coalition since their views are irrelevant.
The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has made its position known to no avail – but yet it remains in the Government. While the Alliance For Change (AFC) initially complained the Cummingsburg Accord has been shredded by the PNC, its absolute irrelevance – and degutting of democratic governance – was recently illustrated again. The PNC usurped his role as Public Security Minister, yet the Chairman of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan could only mutter under his breath, like Galileo of yore being tried by the Pope for heresy to claim the earth and not the sun moved, “And yet it moves.”
Another lesson the Owl of Minerva should have taught us about maintaining democracy are the consequences of the PNC’s disdain for the co-equal role of the Judiciary in democratic governance. Democratic governance begins from the premise that the Leviathan must be checked at all levels. Ideally, in Governments, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary would perform that role vis a vis each other. When, as in our parliamentary system, the Executive controls the Legislature, the role of the Judiciary becomes even more critical.
When the PNC flew its party flag over the Appellate Court of Guyana – when there was no CCJ – it demonstrated its contempt for the Judiciary and the Rule of Law. The identical stance of the present PNC Government – unfettered by any influence of its coalition partners – was illustrated by President Granger’s categorisation of a decision by the Chief Justice as her “perception” and that he will maintain his. It was not surprising that Granger did not nominate the Chief Justice to assume her acting position substantively.
Cry for Guyana’s democracy.
