By Ryhaan Shah
American commentators and political analysts, faced with the serial scandals, missteps and utter disregard by President Trump for the usual protocols and rules that govern the country’s legislative and administrative business in the White House and Congress, ask: What if this had been President Obama?
The question is rhetorical. Had Obama ever been caught up in any of the scandals, like referring to some countries as “sh**hole countries”; or to any of the nepotism, racism, accusations of sexual misconduct, attacking of the judicial and security sectors, or refusing to sanction known adversary, Russia, when the country’s 2016 elections suffered Russian cyber-attacks; had Obama made any of these missteps, he would have been impeached.
US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s continuing investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia, and now the scandal over the Stormy Daniels affair, makes for fascinating reality TV, an irony lost on the ultimate reality TV star Trump as his administration unravels.
Through all this, most of the Republicans in Congress continue to stand by their man, in a show of loyalty that is partisan and deepens the divide between Republicans and Democrats across the country.
That kind of partisan stand-off is a way of life in Guyana, and there are as many “what if” questions that can be raised in the context of our current political situation.
What if a PPP Government had deemed 18 qualified nominees proposed by a PNC Opposition as being not “fit and proper” for the critical post of GECOM Chair, then had unilaterally appointed a known PPP party member who had revealed himself as lacking in professional and personal civility?
What if a PPP Government had retrenched over 5,000 PNC supporters from their only livelihood — some without severance pay — and without any plan to retrain them for new jobs that would provide a smooth transition and assure them and their families of a secure financial future?
What if an Indian Guyanese public servant in a PPP Government had used the “n” word in any context to refer to an African Guyanese?
What if a PPP Government had signed a contract with a major international corporation that sells out the country’s oil and gas or any of its patrimony for a pittance, then deposited a signing bonus into a private bank account instead of the Consolidated Fund?
The answer to any of the above is hardly speculative. Going by the precedence set by the PNC in the 1960s, and which has continued into this century, there would have been widespread PNC-supported protests and violence targeting Indian Guyanese perceived as PPP supporters.
The violence and violations would have been justified by sections of the populace, just as the Buxton-centred terror of 2002 and onwards was, and perhaps even by the diplomatic community, who might have found it necessary to condemn the intransigencies of that hypothetical PPP Government.
Remember the hysteria in the months leading up to the 2015 general elections that painted the PPP/C Government as wholly corrupt? It isn’t that the previous Government was without fault, but, as it turns out, the millions spent on audits by Granger have turned up little evidence of any widescale corruption.
There are now real fears that the firing of Dr David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis as columnists from the state-owned “Chronicle” signals a move towards muzzling the media and silencing opposition voices, as was done during the Burnham era.
But the Granger Government’s innumerable corruptions, unethical conduct, and autocratic behaviour will spark no countrywide protests from Opposition groups, or lead to any united protest from citizens of all races and political persuasions.
Guyana has simply not yet matured to standing on principle. Racial/ethnic jockeying still determines our political support, and ultimately, our fate. The division weakens every national position, and leaves the country open to manipulation from outsiders, who continue to benefit as we wrangle over political power and the ownership and distribution of scarce resources.
In the US, Americans have every hope that either the Mueller probe or the Stormy Daniels Affair will ensnare Trump and lead to his impeachment, or that democratic elections without Russia’s meddling in 2020 would block Trump’s chance of re-election.
Here, however, free and fair elections in 2020 appear to be in total jeopardy, and the racial/political partisanship would ensure a vigorous defence of the elections outcome, no matter whether unfair and unjust. Guyana’s downward spiral will continue. And this despite oil.
What if, instead, Guyana were a country built on the democratic principles of respect, justice and truth, i.e., on the rule of law? Think how farther along we would all be.
