Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 08, 2015 AFC Column, Features / Columnists
By Dominic Gaskin
With elections now imminent and the prospect of change looming, it may be asking a lot for the public to turn
its attention to the year 2030 and try to imagine what this country will be like in fifteen years’ time. Seasoned politicians the world over understand that voters tend to base their choices on their own short-term interests, as opposed to long-term proposals, and political campaigns are therefore focused on the more immediate concerns of the population.
The year 2030 will come around whether we like it or not, and the majority of persons on Guyana’s current list of electors will be alive and still in Guyana when it does. What this country will have become by then will be determined by the choices we make on May 11th of this year when we go to the polls to select the next Government of Guyana.
In the year 2030, our state-owned schools, whether nursery, primary or secondary, can be delivering education that is consistent throughout Guyana and which meets the highest global standards of the day.
In the year 2030, our law enforcement officials can be adequately equipped, properly trained and capable of maintaining order on our roads and in our communities.
In the year 2030, our law enforcement officials can have the capacity to protect citizens across the country from attacks by armed bandits and pirates.
In the year 2030, a growing and globally-competitive manufacturing sector can be offering jobs and training to thousands of young persons every year.
In the year 2030, Guyana can be an attractive venue for investors.
In the year 2030, our physical infrastructure can be well developed and properly maintained.
In the year 2030…
As one reads each line the picture taking shape becomes increasingly attractive; yet these achievements have eluded us for many decades and our current path is not pointing in any of these directions.
As stated earlier in this article, voters tend to base their choices on their own short-term interests. However, here in Guyana even the short-term interests of the voter are not urgent enough to override the ultimate concern which surfaces whenever the issue of who will govern Guyana is raised.
The fear of political dominance is the single most powerful factor affecting voting among Guyana’s two major ethnic groups, and is responsible for the strong support traditionally given to the PPP and PNC by Indo- and Afro-Guyanese respectively. This has created a political reality that cannot be denied or dismissed as mere perception.
This reality is what requires changing if Guyana in 2030 is to be anything more than a grossly exaggerated model of the mess it is today. We cannot get different results until we make different choices and we cannot expect the other side to make different choices unless we ourselves start making them.
A Government that is predominately supported by one major ethnicity will automatically cause discomfort and insecurity within other ethnicities, unless there are constitutional safeguards in place to avoid political domination, interference and other abuses by the Executive. The long-term programmes that need to be developed and placed on the road to 2030 require a level of political buy-in that cannot be achieved if it is felt that a pro-African or a pro-Indian agenda is being pursued. Perception is everything.
The PPP-C Government has been in power long enough to have made a significant impact on the development of Guyana. Guyana 2015 represents the sum of what they have achieved in twenty-two years. Those who are satisfied with what prevails and want to see even more of the same have every reason to vote for the PPP-C come May 11th. However, those who know better and want more for themselves and their families will need to deal with the earlier mentioned political reality and confront their own fears and insecurities in deciding how to vote.
Time and space do not allow us to chronicle all the infractions, transgressions and excesses of the PPP-C Government over the years, but there have been more than enough serious cases of each, and it is clearly time for a new Government to be elected to avoid us descending to new, and even more dangerous, levels of lawlessness and hopelessness.
The AFC has proposed a broad-based Pro-Democracy Alliance to remove the PPP-C from office at the next elections, and replace them with an inclusive multi-party Government that will oversee a period of constitutional, economic, social and political reforms aimed at giving Guyanese a greater say in how this country operates and a fairer share of the wealth it holds and generates. The country’s future is at stake and action is required by the widest possible cross-section of Guyanese to put a stop to the PPP-C’s blundering and plundering.
2030 could see us much worse off than we ever were. Migration of graduates is being balanced with the arrival of convicted deportees from the USA, with no sign of any long-term policies or programmes in place for addressing either problem. Suicides are reaching alarming proportions and drunk drivers are slaughtering citizens on our roads. No effective solutions are being advanced. Our interior has become the new Wild West, except without the Sheriff. Back in town, hit-men are routinely and brazenly pumping bullets into their victims, while the ruling elite live like kings and queens at the public’s expense.
We are facing a choice between fifteen years of increasing misery for most Guyanese, or fifteen years of progress, with improved opportunities and living conditions. We owe it to the next generation to choose the latter and to make it work. The year 2030 must see bright and enthusiastic young adults leaving our education system with options for advancement right here at home. We must not be scared to break traditional voting patterns in order to give change a chance.
The AFC cannot stop ethnic voting in Guyana, however, we will be doing our best to present voters with policies, concepts and options for this country’s short-, medium- and long-term development that will directly improve the wellbeing of the people of Guyana. In doing so, we hope to offer something other than fear as a basis on which to chose the next Government.
The AFC plans to be around in the year 2030 and will hopefully have served in Government a few times by then. For now, we will be campaigning for the votes of all Guyanese in all ten regions of Guyana come May 11th.
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