Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 28, 2014 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
The political ideology of Guyana is social democracy. Our Constitution is socialist in construction and it stands as the Supreme Law of the land. It vests parliament with its powers. If parliament acts outside of the parameters of the Constitution it offends the Constitution gravely. Where any such act of parliament obtains, such act is not engraved with the stamp of constitutional legitimacy.
The ultimate goal of social democracy is democratic socialism. In democratic socialism there exists a synthesis of a democratic political system and a socialist economic system. In its barest form, democracy is the eligibility of all citizens to participate EQUALLY in the government of themselves, whether they participate directly or by electing representatives to do their bidding.
The focus of a socialist economic system is the production of goods and services primarily for satisfaction of the needs of the citizens and not for profit. Profit is the nucleus of capitalism. Our Constitution envisions a gradual move away from capitalism to socialism.
The labour movement is the strongest proponent of Socialism. Socialism contemplates the working class people. Its objective for them is tangible manifestation of the fruits of their labour by way of fair wages and working conditions fit for human beings. Our social democratic ideology broadens the scope of socialism by providing mechanisms through which the working class (and everyone else) can influence its (their) condition. Our Constitution has elevated this philosophy as the tone and tenor of all its articles. Guyana is a constitutional democracy with a socialist democratic ideology; well, at least on paper it is.
It takes only a cursory glance at the working class to reveal that Guyana does not even pretend to be socialist. It appears that the permanent characteristics of the working class are less-than-subsistence wages and subhuman working conditions. Every salary increase for public servants over the past decades has been neutralised by a corresponding increase in the cost of living and inflation. And it is the practice for salary increases to lag behind elevating costs of living. Modification in working conditions appears only when they become relics in other territories. The most noticeable change among the working class is younger faces replacing those of their older likeness. We truly epitomise the concept of public SERVANTS. It would appear that the socialist tenor of our Constitution continues to sing capitalist lyrics.
Guyana does not pretend to be democratic either. A constitutional democracy has two core elements: a constitutional element; and a democratic element. The essence of the constitutional element is that the constitution defines and limits the authority of the government. The democratic aspect vests in the voters control of the government and opposition by holding them accountable for their decisions and the discharge of their obligations during their tenure in public office.
Any claim that we have a representative democracy would be dubious at best. What obtains in Guyana is a ‘List System’ of representation. Political parties pull their parliamentary representatives from a list submitted to the Elections Commission. The right to recall a member of parliament vests in the party. Individual members of parliament are accountable only to their respective parties. Their loyalty is singular. It is not outrageous to imagine that if a member is uneasy about a key issue his vote on it would be persuaded by party loyalty.
Guyana is presumably democratic once in every five years, at general and regional elections. The time has come for members of parliament to be directly elected and accountable, by the right of recall, to the people who elect them. This would see the dawning of the day when parliamentary voices are not mere party chorus, but the articulation of the interests of the respective constituents they represent. The same should apply to our mayor; the holders of these offices should be elected and not selected. Such important offices should not be filled by tokenism.
The only other avenue of citizens’ participation in the democratic process has been hijacked by the government. The facility of Local Government Elections has not been effected for over twenty years. This democratic expression is so crucial that Article 71(1) of the Constitution of Guyana (with 2001 Amendments) states that:
“Local government is a vital aspect of democracy and shall be organized so as to involve as many people as possible in the task of managing and developing the communities in which in which they live.”
It states further at Article 71 (2) “For this purpose Parliament shall provide for the institutions of a countrywide system of local government through the establishment of organs of local democratic power as an integral part of the political organisation of the State.”
The government cannot claim discretion in this process when local democracy sits as a mere ornament on the pages of our Constitution. There can be no justification for not having Local Government Elections in over twenty years. This is just one instance in which the government flouts our Constitution.
One would imagine that the constitutions of political parties would set the stage for observance of the national constitution. But this cannot be so when our government exhibits a reckless disregard for the mandates of our Constitution. The leading opposition party must be at variance with its constitution as well or its constitution must be lacking in some material regard if the party cannot keep at bay its internal squabbles and is so susceptible to penetration by outside forces and propaganda.
The following excerpt from Burnham’s 1961 speech bears relevance today:
“…there are many people who have said that, in spite of such provisions in a constitution, the PPP and its leader can, and will, attempt to dishonour those undertakings. That they will attempt to dishonour those undertakings I am willing to concede, but comrades, there is one question I desire to ask you: are we men or are we mice?”
Guyana is neither socialist nor democratic; neither is it ruled by a constitution. When the rape of our Constitution does not create a revolutionary situation then ours must be a country of men and women who have grown irrecoverably numb.
Ronald J. Daniels
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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