Some form of power sharing is genuinely needed to break this cyclical deadlock we face every five years in Guyana

Dear Editor,

I have been closely following the electoral impasse in Guyana, not only since March 2, 2020, but since I was old enough to understand politics way back in the 80’s. I have also been keenly perusing the various proposals on power sharing and interim governments put forward by high profile pundits and commentators.

While some may harbour ulterior motives and other considerations dear to their own political interests, I am convinced that some form of power sharing is genuinely needed to break this cyclical deadlock we face every five years in Guyana. I see no other avenue. We cannot have one section of the population seemingly dominating the other for long periods and expect anything different from what we are seeing now in Guyana.

The level of distrust and fear of domination evidently are the primary reasons why one party seems to be holding on to power at all cost even when it is pellucid, in Guyana and around the world, they have decisively lost the recent elections.

It would have been so much easier for the losing team to hand over power peacefully and live to fight another day. As others have pointed out, the two main political parties have not delivered to the nation the level of governance and inspired leadership that is so desperately needed to bridge the divide between the two major groups, and it would only be a matter of time for the government of the day to “screw up”.

Impatient voters will become unhappy and choose the other side, as they did in 2015. This constant turnover would have been healthy for Guyana and the Guyanese people, and encourage the government of the day to strive to fulfill their mandate at least in a better way than they have been accustomed to. They would have come to appreciate that they can no longer rely on the ethnic divide to keep them in power, forever, despite poor governance.
The present government has destroyed this dream of many well-thinking Guyanese who would have been of the mindset to give the other team a chance.

My own preference for a solution to the current impasse would be to adopt the formula proposed by Freddie Kissoon in his April 13, 2020 column. I would go one step further though, and advocate for the appointment of an Amerindian person as interim president or someone that does not conform to either of the two major ethnic groups, and that all of the old comrades from the 60’s and 70’s from both parties be allowed to gracefully retire. This way, old grudges and distrust will at least be partially diminished and the younger generation should be allowed to chart a new course for the Guyanese people.

I am cognizant of the argument from the PPP that the other side should not be rewarded for electoral malpractice. I get that and wished it wasn’t so either. I’m also aware of the heightened tension among the supporters of both parties and have seen videos of youths running through my village with sticks and weapons and I’m harkened back to the stories I have heard from the older folks about the happenings of the 60’s.

I sincerely hope and pray that the current situation does not lead to anything close to that which transpired back then. I would implore the leadership of the PPP to stand tall and be magnanimous for the sake of a better Guyana for all Guyanese, and do the right things to embrace a solution that is not only good, but necessary for the upliftment of a nation under siege. History will judge you well for your magnanimity.

I was a member of the PPP back in the 90’s and became disenchanted with the leadership after the passing of the Jagans. I embraced the AFC as a third force that I thought would have done well for Guyana in terms of bridging the divide I spoke of above. They turned out to be a bitter disappointment.

I have earned the wrath of former comrades, friends and family for my latter embrace, but my intention was and still remains a viable path to a united Guyana. I am still not losing hope for that outcome, and pray that something good happens now, out of a tense and untenable situation.

I’m also cognizant of the lament of the Trinidadian Prime Minister that this “will not end well” for Guyana. What does he know that we don’t?

Karamchand Ramassar
Toronto, Canada