Dear Editor,
When one thinks back to the struggle for Guyana’s freedom, there is always that signal moment that all the progressive groups continue to celebrated when former President, Dr Cheddi Jagan said “there was to be no turning back now” and he then made the pledge that “he would dedicate his entire life to the struggle of the Guyanese people against bondage and exploitation”.
These are the word which launched a remarkable political struggle to free Guyana. But today, Guyana is not free as yet because even after 50 years of political independence from the British, the framework they left behind continues to stultify the political progress of this nation where we have a winner-take-all political landscape. Today in Guyana, we have a situation where 50.3 per cent in electoral power is equal to 100 per cent of the political power. This is the situation in a society where our Constitution declares that “we the Guyanese people, forge a system of governance that promotes concerted efforts and broad-based participation in national decision-making….” (Page 30).
Constitutional changes are imperative because the system clearly is not working for the people. The voters were promised by none other than Moses Nagamootoo that within “three months of taking up office, the coalition shall appoint a commission to amend the Constitution with the full participation of the people”. It has been two years now. Isn’t this totally and absolutely dishonest of Moses Nagamootoo?
I was moved to pen this letter because there is a strong sense among many in the grassroots that we will have a military coup in 2020 if a certain party loses the election. With some 70 ex-retired soldiers in senior executive position across the Government of Guyana today, there is a school of thought that they were placed there with a political purpose if their party loses power in 2020.
The British Government has a history of destroying the electoral future of this nation. The record books will show that Churchill’s troops tried to stop the wind of change in Guyana by suspending the Constitution in 1953. Then in 1964, the British again gerrymandered the system to allow for the smaller of the two big political forces to form the Government. The year 2020 will be the litmus test to prove commitment to democratic principles of one man-one vote.
Sincerely,
Lisa Ally
