…Parliamentary democracy
What’s this thing called “democracy”? Winston Churchill, said “Democracy is the worst form of Government – except for all the rest.” Then there’s the explanation offered by Abe Lincoln, the US President who didn’t back down from waging a civil war for African Americans’ freedom: “Government of the people, by the people and for the people”.
And while the “for the people” exhortation’s pretty clear cut, it’s the other two parts that pose the challenge we keep butting up against in Guyana. Since all “the people” of even our less-than-a-million populace can’t all show up to decide on matters like whether we’ll give Ministers 50 per cent raises or not, we send Members of Parliament to do so for us. And they’re either the “Government” when they have a majority of seats or the “Opposition”, when they don’t.
And so it may happen – like after a 54-day holiday, the Government decided on by their lonesome – the Government decides to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Bill once again. They’ll show up in Parliament, debate the matter with the Opposition (exchange barbs that produce more heat than light) and vote. And that’s deemed to be “Government of and by the people”.
To those who may say, “Hey! It ain’t fair…the Government will always get their way!” the riposte is, “Well we gotta find a way to make a decision – and in any case if your side’s the Opposition they did get their chance to convince the Government of the error of their ways, didn’t they?”
And so we come down – in the end – for a Government to be considered “democratic”, the Opposition must be allowed to have their say.
That’s not too much to ask, is it? As was pointed out, the Government ‘s gonna always have the last word, and on counting heads, have their way. So when a Government starts refusing the Opposition to have their say in Parliament, citizens of all political persuasions should sit up and take notice. It shows an authoritarian mindset that doesn’t even tolerate “mere talk” against its actions. And such an authoritarian mindset can easily descend into dictatorial actions – even against their own supporters.
When the Government’s Speaker during the last parliamentary session persistently truncated the Opposition MP’s time to reply…some Government supporters giggled. They didn’t see the humour, however, when their Government summarily hauled vendors off the Stabroek Market Square. And this silencing of the Opposition continued last week when Nagamootoo moved that the time given to Opposition motions one day next week be cut by half.
Why? Well the Government MP’s want to attend GuyExpo!! And for that, the essence of democracy can be trampled on!
…butter
Back in the late seventies, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) were in deep discussion to form a “unity Government”. At the time, Burnham had increased the military budget tenfold as he launched several military and paramilitary units that would eventually employ 23,000 men and women. The PPP’s “Mirror” then ran an editorial – “Guns versus butter” – which is the classic phrase to signal a Government’s spending too much on the military at the expense of social needs. At the time, the ban of several foods was biting – especially as the economy had collapsed – so it wasn’t as if the PPP was sensationalising the matter or anything.
But the PNC demanded the Editorial be retracted or the unity talks were off. The PPP didn’t retract – and that was that. Well, all of that flashed into your Eyewitness’ thoughts as he read about the $410M supplementary for “Operation Greenheart” conducted by the GDF last October to scare off the Venezuelans. A like amount must’ve been already spent.
So, couldn’t some of that $800 million be spent for some “butter” for Wales workers?
…credibility
And isn’t $10 million for “maintenance of a swimming pool for the training of officers and ranks” a bit much when Operation Greenheart was in the jungles of Region Seven – crisscrossed with creeks and rivers?
…Parliamentary democracy
What’s this thing called “democracy”? Winston Churchill, said “Democracy is the worst form of Government – except for all the rest.” Then there’s the explanation offered by Abe Lincoln, the US President who didn’t back down from waging a civil war for African Americans’ freedom: “Government of the people, by the people and for the people”.
And while the “for the people” exhortation’s pretty clear cut, it’s the other two parts that pose the challenge we keep butting up against in Guyana. Since all “the people” of even our less-than-a-million populace can’t all show up to decide on matters like whether we’ll give Ministers 50 per cent raises or not, we send Members of Parliament to do so for us. And they’re either the “Government” when they have a majority of seats or the “Opposition”, when they don’t.
And so it may happen – like after a 54-day holiday, the Government decided on by their lonesome – the Government decides to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Bill once again. They’ll show up in Parliament, debate the matter with the Opposition (exchange barbs that produce more heat than light) and vote. And that’s deemed to be “Government of and by the people”.
To those who may say, “Hey! It ain’t fair…the Government will always get their way!” the riposte is, “Well we gotta find a way to make a decision – and in any case if your side’s the Opposition they did get their chance to convince the Government of the error of their ways, didn’t they?”
And so we come down – in the end – for a Government to be considered “democratic”, the Opposition must be allowed to have their say.
That’s not too much to ask, is it? As was pointed out, the Government ‘s gonna always have the last word, and on counting heads, have their way. So when a Government starts refusing the Opposition to have their say in Parliament, citizens of all political persuasions should sit up and take notice. It shows an authoritarian mindset that doesn’t even tolerate “mere talk” against its actions. And such an authoritarian mindset can easily descend into dictatorial actions – even against their own supporters.
When the Government’s Speaker during the last parliamentary session persistently truncated the Opposition MP’s time to reply…some Government supporters giggled. They didn’t see the humour, however, when their Government summarily hauled vendors off the Stabroek Market Square. And this silencing of the Opposition continued last week when Nagamootoo moved that the time given to Opposition motions one day next week be cut by half.
Why? Well the Government MP’s want to attend GuyExpo!! And for that, the essence of democracy can be trampled on!
…butter
Back in the late seventies, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) were in deep discussion to form a “unity Government”. At the time, Burnham had increased the military budget tenfold as he launched several military and paramilitary units that would eventually employ 23,000 men and women. The PPP’s “Mirror” then ran an editorial – “Guns versus butter” – which is the classic phrase to signal a Government’s spending too much on the military at the expense of social needs. At the time, the ban of several foods was biting – especially as the economy had collapsed – so it wasn’t as if the PPP was sensationalising the matter or anything.
But the PNC demanded the Editorial be retracted or the unity talks were off. The PPP didn’t retract – and that was that. Well, all of that flashed into your Eyewitness’ thoughts as he read about the $410M supplementary for “Operation Greenheart” conducted by the GDF last October to scare off the Venezuelans. A like amount must’ve been already spent.
So, couldn’t some of that $800 million be spent for some “butter” for Wales workers?
…credibility
And isn’t $10 million for “maintenance of a swimming pool for the training of officers and ranks” a bit much when Operation Greenheart was in the jungles of Region Seven – crisscrossed with creeks and rivers?
