Developing a new theme
Editorial
The new President has been in office for nearly a month, and still there is no word about Cabinet changes. Most newly installed heads of government prefer their own appointees in office, so they have around them ministers (in the key ministries, at least) with whom they can work in tandem and who understand the direction in which they seek to go. A Cabinet which does not endorse a presidential change of policy, is not going to implement it, and president and ministers will find themselves pulling in different directions. It is not a recipe for successful government. In this instance we have a new President, an old Cabinet and an indication from the PPP (Mirror, August 18) that 'collective leadership' will be the order of the day. The clear suggestion from the party statement is that that collective leadership applies not just to the Cabinet, but to the party as well. And as has been observed by more than one commentator, the President labours under the disadvantage of not being the leader of the PPP, the first time since 1980 that there has been no conjunction between head of state and head of party. As things stand, most of the key ministries are held by party stalwarts who have been in office for several years, and who, presumably, would be reluctant to relinquish their posts. If 'collective leadership' means what it appears to mean, and President Jagdeo abides by it, then there will be no Cabinet changes without the party imprimatur. Added to this is the problem that his candidacy for the 2001 election is by no means secure; Mr Jagdeo has not only detractors in the party, but also rivals for the office he currently holds. President Jagdeo has had a brilliant beginning; he has sounded presidential and conciliatory, and has palpably reduced the tension in the society. His one hundred and eighty degree turn has caught the PNC, for example, completely off guard. Yet for all of that the impression is conveyed that the ship has more than one hand on the tiller, and that sometimes it veers off course in quite a contrary direction. While the President is following a path of inclusiveness, his dialogue team is making sounds which belong more to the era of confrontation. They have not entertained the matter of land and house lot distribution on the current dialogue agenda, for example, although it has been on the agenda already and was discussed last year. Who is informing the approaches of Messrs Ramotar and Anthony, and Mrs Sahoye Shury? Not the new President, surely. And then there is the matter of the arbitration award for public servants; the President said his piece flawlessly, but in tone it was hardly in consonance with what his Labour Minister had been saying and doing at an earlier stage. And what is a new President to do if he does not control the party, and cannot persuade its key members to change direction as well as possibly at least some government personnel? He can follow the principle of collective leadership, although it may very well mean the end of his special vision. There is always the option, of course, for him to use the considerable powers allocated to him under the presidency to strike out on his own, free of the apron strings of the party. The presidency too, gives him a base for appealing directly to the people, party structures notwithstanding. That, however, would be a daring move, and whether or not it is feasible or advisable, only the President can judge. For those who hold more conservative views in the party, they have to recognize that the ground rules have changed, and different possibilities have opened up. There is the glimmering of a new political reality in the firmament, and they will sabotage it only at great cost to themselves, not to mention the country. Whether the PNC too, will meet the President half way yet remains to be seen, but it will be a great error on their part if they don't. The nation has been given yet another, if rather unexpected chance. It waits to see if President Jagdeo will be allowed to develop his new theme.
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