A propitious time for beating verbal swords into ploughshares
Editorial
IN THE Book of Ecclesiastes, there is a wonderfully magical passage that asserts, `For everything, there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven'. It goes on to state that there is a time for war and a time for peace, a time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones together. This rough paraphrasing of one of the most succinct passages of the Bible, will, we hope, serve our purpose in finding the right tone for an appeal for the cessation of verbal warfare between the two major political parties in Guyana and for them to make a pact for tolerance, dialogue, consensus, progress and development. Conflict between the ruling People's Progressive party (PPP) and the People's National Congress (PNC) has always been heightened at election time. This has been the pattern of events ever since that accursed day of the PPP split in the mid-1950s. However, we believe that not many observers would disagree with us when we posit that the conflict and differences were particularly bitter and nasty in the period leading up to the 1997 general elections, and its aftermath, which witnessed many abominable scenes of brutality and divisiveness. While the CARICOM interventions helped considerably in pulling this nation from the brink of self-destruction, there is a lingering and unpleasant sense that the Guyanese themselves were taken back by the virulence of the expressions of abuse. The prolonged strike in the public sector did nothing to promote healing in the wounded ethos, but served instead to reopen festering sores of ethnic tensions. The accession to the Presidency of Mr Bharrat Jagdeo, has, we sincerely believe, created a most propitious moment for a new rapprochement between the leaderships of the People's Progressive Party and the People's National Congress. With commendable magnanimity, President Jagdeo has indicated that he will be speaking with the leaders of the opposition parties, and that he wants the nation to break the vicious cycle of insecurity, and also to break away from the bondage of victim and victor perceptions. And in his first address to the nation last night, President Jagdeo reiterated his intention to reach across the political divide. He said that inclusivity will be a hallmark of his Government, and he repeated that he has invited PNC leader, Mr Desmond Hoyte for talks. He stated: "There will be no room for prejudices based on ethnicity or gender. From my public interaction I know that there exists in some sections feelings of insecurity. I will deal with these through mechanisms that I intend to outline shortly. The President spoke of bringing the youth organisations of the PPP and the PNC and other youth bodies to form a National Volunteer Corps. His objective? "If we work together as young people, we cannot have enemy images of each other. It will be difficult for the leadership of the People's National Congress to defend a position of non-engagement with the youthful President Bharrat Jagdeo when he presents such an agenda. Indeed, as Mr Eusi Kwayana argued most brilliantly in yesterday's `Sunday Stabroek', let us give the new President a chance. It is time for the warmongers in the PPP and the PNC to beat their verbal swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks and permit the nation to discuss, to dissent, and to discuss again, in the quest of consensus and healing.
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