Aiming for small gains
There is often the assumption in political discussions in this country that our ethnic voting patterns are unique, that our leaders are particularly obstinate and narrow minded and that our electorate alone of all others in the world is incapable of voting based on issues and is clannish and tribal in its outlook. The attitude springs from a combination of naivete and a fundamental lack of awareness of what has been taking place in ethnically divided societies all over the world. In its broad parameters the problems of political instability we have experienced and are continuing to suffer from are similar to those experienced in Fiji, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and many other countries. There are special features in Guyana, as there are in each of the other countries. But the essential problem is the same everywhere, ethnic insecurity, fear of domination, learning to live together with respect for each other and trying to build a viable political and economic system in the process of nation building. There have not been many successes so far. The consociational experiment in Northern Ireland is alive though still fragile. The flawed attempt at power sharing in Fiji has been derailed. South Africa remains an inspiration though power sharing with the white minority was terminated earlier than scheduled. The worst case scenarios of Rwanda (a genocide) Sri Lanka (a virtual civil war) and Yugoslavia (a disintegration) are well known. In a fascinating paper "Constitutional Design; an Oxymoron?" Donald Horowitz expresses scepticism about consociational democracy being successful in mitigating conflict in severely divided societies. Indeed, he doubts that all the features of that system including, for example, mutual group vetoes and a large measure of group autonomy will ever be accepted as a coherent package in the bargaining process between parties. Among other reasons, he argues, a majority is unlikely to make all the necessary concessions. He favours instead what he describes as political incentives that seek to introduce politicians and their followers to engage in interethnic co-operation. He refers to the experiment in Nigeria in l978 that required the winning presidential candidate to receive the largest number of votes plus at least 25 per cent of the vote in at least two thirds of the states. He also discusses electoral systems (such as the alternative vote system) which can induce politicians to take account of the interests of voters from groups other than their own. Apart from these major strategies to contain ethnic conflict, sometimes still in the experimental stage, it can be useful to make small gains that relieve tensions. One such can be the Ethnic Relations Commission which will hopefully soon be set up. Another, as discussed recently at a public gathering, can be the structured devolution of power to local government bodies like city councils. A third could be a Parliamentary Management Committee to promote the better organisation and functioning of parliament in which the opposition parties would be included. Indeed in the St Lucia Statement then President Janet Jagan had agreed to explore in consultation with the other parties in the National Assembly the setting up of such a committee. Regrettably, in the absence perhaps of dialogue, there has been no progress on this. The idea is a good one as it allows the opposition to play a fuller role in the functioning of parliament and ensures that their motions and questions will be dealt with in a timely manner. It can also lead to the further development and use of special all party parliamentary committees which give the opposition more involvement in the running of things. All of these things can help. They can give minority groups a bigger stake in the system and reduce the feeling of being marginalised. If the overarching `coherent package', as Mr Horowitz describes it, cannot be achieved these small gains are a great deal better than nothing. The new president should revisit this commitment.
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