Posted February 25th. 2004 - Special Feature by David Hinds

PPP Digging Hole for Itself

The President's speech last month at Anandale, which was reported by the media, comes as yet another reminder that the government of Guyana is descending to undesirable depths. I have no problem with the President's criticism of its political opponents, but I take a dim view of his attacks on the media. The charge that the media is part of a conspiracy to bring down the government would be ludicrous if it had not come from the Head of State and the government. This is not the President's first attack on the media, but its his most virulent to date.

This attack is a thinly veiled threat to the universal right to free speech. While I agree that the media is no sacred cow and that all sections of it have from time to time strayed from the accepted norms of responsible reporting, I find the media's expose of the Gagraj affair and its support for an independent inquiry to be in the best tradition of Guyanese journalism. The attacks, coming at the time of the passing of one of the giants of modern investigative journalism, Fr Andrew Morrison, is a grim reminder of how much governments of all stripes fear the open word. I, therefore, call on all democratic voices in the society to speak up against this development before its too late.

During the speech the President also pronounced his ministers innocent without investigation. The President's interpretation of calls for an independent probe of allegations against one of his ministers as a call for lynching his ministers is regrettable and alarming. It shows a President and government more concerned with holding on to power than with accountability, fairness and responsible governance. This cannot be tolerated in a nation, which in its short history has already endured the worst of excessive political stewardship.

The charge that the political opposition wants to bring down the government should not be taken lightly, as it comes from a government that in the recent past has not hesitated to bring charges of treason against citizens.

President Jagdeo made it very clear that he was not about to lynch any of his ministers and he condemned those who have found one of his ministers guilty without trial. But he, the supreme executive, has proclaimed the minister innocent without trial. The President's refusal to order an independent inquiry of the allegations made against the minister confirms one of our worst fears: the PPP feels it is not accountable to those outside of Freedom House. The ruling party is obviously intent on showing the rest of us who is boss and they are succeeding in the short run.

But I warn that no society stands still, even segmented ones like Guyana. The PPP is digging its own hole. It has objected to Power Sharing. It prefers majoritarian rule even in a failed state. It prefers to preside over a failed state rather than be part of a team that tries to turn back the failure. In the end the PPP, by its very actions, will achieve the opposite of one of its primary motivations. It is paving the way for the return to power by itself of the very PNC it is trying to keep out of power.

History repeats itself or as the PPP told the nation in 1992, it was merely picking up from where it left off in 1964. As it was in the 1960s so it is today: The PPP's stubbornness and tunnel vision politics which between 1957-64 paved the way for the convergence of racial strife and the Anglo-American solution in 1964, is alive and well today. Just as the PNC did then, it is doing today: stoke the fires, help the PPP to its fall, sit back and wait for the American solution.

But here is my parting shot. Even in sameness there are differences: In 1964 the PNC inherited a new constitutionally independent state; this time around it will inherit a miserably failed state.

David Hinds lectures in Caribbean and Africana Studies at Arizona State University in the USA. He is also a political and social commentator who has written extensively on Guyana and Caribbean politics. More of his writings can be found on his GuyanaCaribbeanPolitics.com website.