A one term government is possible

Dear Editor,

I do not know if a cycle of one term government is here to stay as suggested by Kaieteur News columnist “Peeping Tom”. But I do believe that the upcoming election in March will reveal if the phenomenon of one term governments in Guyana is beginning to take off.

While a fast turnover of government in any country has its downside, in the case of Guyana, it should be welcoming news. Our most pressing political problem is the ethnic insecurity which arises when government changes hands. “One termism” may well help to address that problem. The foot soldiers of the defeated party will be comforted, in knowing that the next election is just around the corner and it is their team now in opposition that is likely to hold the reins tomorrow.

Guyana will not be breaking new ground as a Caribbean country, as a parallel situation of one term governments has already developed in the Bahamas. Over the past four or five election cycles, no governing party has even come close to winning a second term. This is no mere accident, as this recent feature of Bahamian electoral politics is undergirded by an unmistakable economic reality. Throughout the past two decades, the Bahamian economy has been in stagnation, with governments trying to jumpstart economic growth and failing at it.
With no government showing any significant success over a five- year period, the voters are ready to dump the old crew overboard in maritime tradition and bring in new hands on deck.

In the case of our country, I would propose that one term governments would be grounded on a different set of facts. It is already well established that neither of our two major political parties can win an election on the basis of exclusive ethnic support. It is also believed that our mixed- race population represents a significant constituency of swing voters. It is estimated to be about twenty per cent of the electorate. It would appear that whichever party bags a substantial majority of this mixed- race group is almost guaranteed to win the election.

It is also my view that no government of Guyana can legitimately claim a track record of stellar performance. Even though over the years, we have seen improvements, our country is still relatively poor compared to our Caricom neighbours. In the future, the quality of governance may change but I doubt by much. So, I do not foresee the swing voters endorsing mediocrity and incompetence for too long. And with oil money, we can safely add corruption to the list.

Politically, we would have made progress when the change in government has become fairly run of the mill.

Wesley Hicken