Democracy is a political system which among other things allows the people to choose members of government by means of elections; it allows them to participate in politics and public jobs; it recognizes the fundamental rights of its citizens incorporated in the Constitution; and upholds the rule of law.
In his most recent writings, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo posited that Guyana, under the rule of the six party coalition, A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) was a democratic system to follow or imitate. As a matter of fact, he boasted that government led by President David Granger, was a “model democracy.”
Not only a model democracy with an unprecedented inclusion of women in national life, but one which also saw an incremental boost in the standards of living of all working people, Nagamootoo asserted.
“I had once described the democratic openings here as “a silent revolution. So, political scientists would be baffled that Guyana has been targeted for “regime change” – the standard Western label for external subversion of unpopular, repressive and often mischaracterized terrorist states,” he wrote in his column ‘My Turn’ published in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper yesterday.
The Prime Minister wrote that under the APNU+AFC coalition the fundamental rights of all Guyanese, including those of the indigenous peoples, were protected and promoted. He said there was full respect for media freedom and journalists were protected from harassment and persecution. He further said that the country has no political prisoners, no restrictions on movement by citizens; no curtailment of the right to association.
“Ours was not an illegal or authoritarian state,” he made clear.
According to the politician and lawyer, when the APNU+AFC assumed office in 2015, it sought to correct the political deformities of the recent past when the perception of Guyana was that of a narco-criminal state that was characterized by pervasive corruption and abuse of power.
He noted that efforts at institutional changes to curb systemic corruption and para-state abuse were done in close collaboration with partners in the Western Democracies, notably the United States of America. In partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), he pointed out derail, Guyana waged an unrelenting war against illicit drugs and money laundering; it smashed extra-judicial killings, curbed piracy and contained trafficking in persons.
He added, “Simultaneously, the new Coalition Government dropped all semblance of a state-controlled economy as had existed under the dominant PNC and PPP Marxist-Leninist regimes in post-independent Guyana. It enriched our democratic governance structure with restoration of full respect for the doctrine of separation of powers, so that the branches of state – the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature – worked autonomously, yet, in comity.”
The Prime Minister said that over the past 12 months he revisited the epic work of Dr Cheddi Jagan, The West on Trial, in which he recounted the sordid episodes of subversion in Guyana from what he graphically described as “Anglo-American imperialism.” He revealed that in 1964, he experienced the birth of his political voice with three words: “cheated not defeated.”
“From then, I shared the struggles and sacrifices of authentic nationalist-revolutionaries over an unbroken 28 years, for the restoration of genuine democracy. I had coined in 1992 the slogan, “Dawn of a new era” to characterize the rebirth of our electoral democracy. I have participated since then in the governance system, and I am proud to know that Guyana has remained an open and free, multi-party, parliamentary democracy.”
This second 28-year period since 1992 has been relatively stable, and was marked by electoral processes that have been largely credible, the Prime Minister submitted. The Prime Minister’s comments come on the heels of repeated warnings by the International Community that Guyana could become isolated and even sanctioned if incumbent President Granger is sworn in on flawed elections results, thereby resulting in the hijacking of the will of the people and ultimately a derailment in democracy.
