Increasing… democracy

The Attorney General reported that, in the main, his Government agrees with the findings and recommendations of the Carter Center on the 2025 General Elections. So, who said the Government doesn’t listen?? There was no disagreement with the centre’s enthusiastic endorsement of the conduct of the elections on Election Day – and of the tabulations and announcement of the results. It was an endorsement of an election under their watch, wasn’t it???
And they didn’t need to even make the comparison with the 2020 elections under the PNC – with its long and drawn-out dénouement involving extradimensional mathematics where 33 wasn’t greater than 32!! But if they’d brought that up, it would’ve been like kicking a man when he’s down – since the PNC had been beaten to a pulp by a party that was barely three – and not even nine months!! The AG didn’t also mention the Centre taking a crack at him for a purported conflict by advising the Government – a party in the elections – and simultaneously GECOM – which conducted the elections!! Of course, he could’ve pointed out that he happens to wear two hats – the abovementioned AG one and also the Minister of Legal Affairs’ – and gives his advice wearing the appropriate one!! Presto…no conflict!!
But the substantive recommendations on improving the electoral system by the centre took centre stage. The AG advised that since most of these would need constitutional changes to accommodate them, he knows the Constitutional Reform Committee – a bipartisan body!! – has been deliberating and will soon be conducting hearings on a broad range of changes – including some proposed by the Center!! Right up there has to be the centre criticising the composition of the commissioners, making GECOM too “partisan” and “dysfunctional” – since there are three commissioners from the Government and the opposition each!! This, of course, is rather ironic since this formula was originally proposed by the centre back in the day!! But hey!! Things change, don’t they?? And we gotta change with them!! A different formulation on composition might also break the new deadlock where the old – VERY OLD – Opposition Commissioners are insisting they’re there for life!! Never mind the party that nominated them – the PNC – ain’t got much life!!
Another suggestion was that the passage of time has changed in the population of the 10 “constituencies” – and as such the number of MPs, they each send is out of whack with the goal of equality of voting power of their populations. The boundaries gotta be redrawn, for instance, to give Region Three more seats!!
Most nettlesome, however, was the recommendation that the present “list system” for the forty national seats gives too much power to the “representative of the list”!!
No leader’s gonna commit hara-kiri!!

…competition
In the midst of the brouhaha caused by an Indian company operating locally deciding to reintroduce the indentureship system that had been abolished back in 1917 – two Government spokespersons weighed in to declare that foreign workers aren’t a threat to Guyanese ones!! They were obviously well versed in our history and alluding to that proposal in 1920 to restart the indentureship system since we needed more labourers!! But this wasn’t taken too kindly by those sections who felt these newcomers would undercut their bargaining power for mo’ money!!
And this is why your Eyewitness thinks our Government spokespersons are right on the ball on their conclusions. Unlike the last century, our present populace of able-bodied Guyanese who might feel threatened salary-wise actually don’t wanna work – and have removed themselves from the labour pool!! Even though there are claims that 30 per cent of our youths are “unemployed”, have you seen any of them lining up at construction sites protesting the hiring of foreigners”??
We got a lot of “not working millionaires”!!

…rains
Well, since Independence Day’s just around the corner, the calendar has confirmed that the real May-June rainy season has really arrived!! But your Eyewitness is having trouble distinguishing the preceding months!!
Land of many waters – falling?