Seize the moment
Editorial
It is verging on a month since President Bharrat Jagdeo extended an invitation to PNC Leader Desmond Hoyte to meet him as he has other opposition leaders and various interest groups. To date, the PNC leader is still to respond and may do so on his return from a trip to China over the weekend. Aside from the tardiness by the PNC leader in responding to the invitation from the President, the public is left to wonder whether the opposition party appreciates fully the role it has to play in extricating Guyana from the strait-jacket of December 1997. Is the PNC's position evolving in step with the changing dynamics of the political situation here? The PNC has shown a remarkable consistency in its attitude to this government i.e. it was not elected on the basis of a fair election and is therefore illegal. Save for the PNC and its supporters, everyone else recognizes the government and does business with it. In the months that followed the 1997 elections, the animus generated by the claims of rigged elections, the clandestine swearing-in of President Jagan and the tense demonstrations that ensued gave way to a type of suspended animation in which the PPP/Civic and the PNC flailed at each other. That was until Mrs Jagan stepped down and enabled the accession of President Jagdeo. That move carved open greater political space for the PPP/Civic to operate in on its own and it has done this with great enthusiasm. The new President is everywhere and sounding presidential at each opportunity. Gone (but no doubt not forgotten) is the role he played as one of the main drummers of the 28-years-of-PNC-ruin tune. And what has the PNC reply been? It comprises mainly a repudiation of the presidential succession method - which is however in consonance with the constitution - even if quite clumsy, a vicious personal attack on the President in the New Nation and silence on an invitation from Mr Jagdeo to meet. Clearly the vista of opportunity for the PNC to wrest significant concessions, on behalf of its supporters, from the PPP/Civic lay in the Herdmanston Accord's promise of constitutional reform and political dialogue. Far into the constitution reform process, it is clear that the majoritarian-type of governance will remain the same after the next general elections and the electoral system may see only superfluous adjustments. So political dialogue is the only other mechanism available to the two parties. To date, it has been an abysmal failure and a reservoir of contention and conflict that will probably destabilise rather than heal. We are firmly of the view that the PPP/Civic must show a greater propensity to accommodate and yield in certain areas, for as the governing party it has the most to lose. But in equal measure, the PNC must retreat from its omnipresent posture of confronting for the sake of confronting. It has to give this up for the role of an equal partner in the Herdmanston process and not seek temporal advantages more befitting of an electoral campaign. The present elections petition before the court should not prevent meaningful engagement between the two parties. The intervention by Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku which led to the resumption of the political dialogue has ineluctably led to a different problem. The PPP/Civic is unwilling to countenance matters that fall within the ambit of governmental authority. The PNC is adamant that the PPP/Civic must influence its government to make the changes. It is a bit peculiar. An "illegal government" cannot be expected to make concessions in return for nothing. This is the type of politics that the people of Guyana have had to put up with. The gridlock can certainly be eased were there to be regular meetings between President Jagdeo and the PNC leader. With a firm agenda and a serious commitment to move forward it can work wonders. We urge the PNC and its leader to respond affirmatively to the President's invitation and to seize the moment of opportunity it offers.
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