Bishop Singh urges Jagdeo, Hoyte to restart dialogue
Stabroek News
June 5, 2002
The Roman Catholic Bishop in Guyana, Benedict Singh yesterday issued a public appeal for President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNC/R leader Desmond Hoyte to resume their dialogue.
In the public appeal, Bishop Singh said "the pause in the political dialogue between the President and the Leader of the Opposition has heightened political and social tensions and has been accompanied by an increased outbreak of armed criminal attacks in the country."
The dialogue was suspended by Hoyte and the PNC/R because of dissatisfaction over the way in which decisions agreed by the two leaders were being implemented.
Saying that fear has once again engulfed Guyana following numerous acts of violence which have resulted in the deaths of both citizens and the police, Bishop Singh said violence repaid with violence only leads to more violence. The church continues to offer dialogue as the way of resolving differences, the bishop stated, and underscored that while dialogue may be protracted, the results are generally more lasting.
The Roman Catholic bishop also contended that the recommencement of the dialogue between the two leaders "will contribute favourably to a reduction in tensions and an improvement in the overall climate of the country."
He said there is ample evidence that political dialogue between the leaders has impacted positively on political and social tensions. "The sight of the two main leaders in discussion on national issues is heartening to our people, offering an alternative to confrontational politics," the bishop observed.
Bishop Singh posited that the more the country's leaders speak to each other from a position of mutual respect, the more they will come to a greater appreciation of each other's concerns.
He contended, too, that it is also vitally important that even when the dialogue has been paused, the leaders should continue to have a respectful rapport with each other.
And the bishop asserted that "dialogue must not be reduced to mere negotiations or a talk shop," noting that the "fruitfulness of the dialogue will be seen in the extent that our leaders are able to make decisions for the benefit of the common good, decisions which go beyond sectional interests."
In the public appeal, the bishop also observed that the President and the Leader of the Opposition were able, before the talks were aborted, to arrive at a number of decisions, but the process broke down amidst claims of poor implementation of decisions collectively taken.
"I humbly would like to suggest that in order to enhance confidence in the implementation process, both leaders actively consider shared responsibility for implementing decisions taken collectively," Bishop Singh offered.
According to him, the consequences of the last three General Elections cannot be ignored as they point to entrenched voting patterns along racial lines and have been accompanied by sporadic periods of agitation and unrest.
Many other places face similar and in most cases worse conflicts, he said, and declared his belief that "the leaders of our country have a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate to the international community that we can set an example of different races living in peace and harmony in the country."
"I therefore make an impassioned appeal for matured leadership in this troubling period in our country's history," he concluded.