Hoyte plugs adjusted system of governance By Andrew Richards
Stabroek News
August 17, 2002
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PNC/R Leader Desmond Hoyte yesterday threw his support behind an "adjusted system of governance" urging his party's biennial congress to give careful consideration to the voices calling for constitutional and political reform.

It was the closest Hoyte has come yet to calling for a changed system of governance amid growing calls by many in his own party and groups in society for this to be considered.

"An adjusted system of governance for our country - whether we call it `power-sharing', `shared governance', `inclusive governance' or any other name - appears to be an idea whose time has come. It could hardly be claimed that our present arrangements are working in the best interests of the country and its citizens", Hoyte said in his hour-long speech.

He added that the imperfections of the current system show up everywhere and are a serious obstacle to national cohesion. "In the circumstances, the imperative of constitutional adjustment appears to be unavoidable... I suggest, therefore, that we as a party give careful and anxious consideration to the insistent voices that are calling for constitutional and political reform." He declared that the party should not shy away from examining modalities "for a transformed system of governance that meets the needs of our peculiar situation; nor should we be diffident, as a party, about putting forward proposals as part of any national debate on this subject."

Hoyte's new-look approach was made known when he was addressing the opening session of his party's 13th biennial congress at Congress Place, Sophia. The proposal comes in the wake of months of political deadlock between the PNC/R and the PPP/C government over the implementation of constitutional reforms and other changes. Dialogue between Hoyte and President Bharrat Jagdeo has been suspended by the PNC/R as a result.

The party headquarters was bustling with activity at the opening session, with hundreds of delegates and observers overspilling the main auditorium as the session got underway.

Hoyte arrived shortly after five o'clock and was greeted with loud cheers as he made his way to the stage to be seated.

The cheers erupted several times when PNC REFORM (PNC/R) chairman Robert Corbin, in the welcoming remarks, threw his support behind Hoyte as his choice to continue as leader of the party.

The opening was laced with several items in a cultural programme including a catchy calypso rendition by Mighty Canary which advocated that Hoyte and the PNC/R were the only choice for a better Guyana.

Hoyte told the delegates that the Congress should be approached in a mood of creativity and innovation that would allow the party to question its methods, strategies, policies and programmes with the full understanding that there were no "sacred cows" in the PNC/R or immutable traditions.

"...We must approach Congress in a revolutionary vein. And if revolutionary thinking produces ideas and projects hitherto unfamiliar to us, let us nonetheless examine them keenly and, if necessary embrace them bravely in a spirit of change. Change is as necessary a part of politics as it is a part of life. Those who do not change become dinosaurs, irrelevant and eventually extinct. If we do not adapt to new circumstances, new challenges and new responsibilities, we cannot survive much less overcome."

Hoyte pointed out that the party was not conceptualised to be merely an instrument for periodical elections, but also as an organisation to be mobilised on a permanent basis for community and national development.

Adapt

He said the challenges of the period ahead seem to demand that the party recapture that aspect of its purpose and adapt its structure to sustain educational and development work in the communities.

He proposed that the party consider the establishment of a supportive or parallel organisation which would have the mobilising of resources for training, education and fostering entrepreneurship as its primary task and benevolent work in communities.

He stated that whether in or out of office the party would always have the capability to promote development.

Hoyte told the Congress that the party would have to reflect on feasible options for attracting new members and expanding the party base.

He stated it would be useful to revisit the grass roots structures; update and intensify training and public relations techniques, modernise the party's financial and management operations; and develop fresh approaches for reaching out to a wider cross-section of society.

Hoyte said there needs to be an appreciation of the fact that Guyana must change to survive.

He stated that by the same token the party will have to transform itself accordingly to facilitate and cope with the inevitable change.

"The rhetoric and the policies of the past no longer have resonance. Changed times require changed responses. At both the national and party level we will have to craft new policies, design new structures, experiment with new ideas to survive comfortably in the new local and world dispensations," he said.

Hoyte asserted that Guyana, in its present circumstance, could not continue to think of government and politics as a zero sum game in which the results of an election confer on some the right to behave in an unregulated way, while denying the rest of the population any opportunity to contribute to the national decision-making and management processes.

"Given the realities of Guyana, the traditional forms of political management cannot continue unreformed. In many countries of the world, best practice in many key sectors has changed; and, in our own country, the problems and challenges that now confront us are exerting powerful pressures for change," he declared.

Active role

Hoyte stated that in recent weeks the party has received formal and informal notification from civil society organisations of their intention to exercise their constitutional right to play an active role in the political life of the country.

He noted the organisations have proposed initial ideas for addressing the national problems, including possible reforms to the system of governance.

He recalled that the party has publicly declared that it welcomed the initiatives and understood the patriotic motivations which inspired them.

He said the party has considered the paper put up by the civil society organisations entitled "Shared Governance" and believe it to be a valuable document and a useful basis for discussions.

"We stand ready to respond constructively to further proposals when they are solidified and to participate in any forum organised to study these issues. Our minds are not closed and have never been closed to new ideas."

Hoyte declared that the future of Guyana lies in the balance.

He said the problems of the country were complex and have undermined every sector of national life.

He charged the government as being responsible for the state of affairs and of being unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers which beset the country.

"The most cogent evidence of the intellectual bankruptcy of its functionaries is their belief that propaganda is not only a substitute for reality, but an acceptable game-plan for explaining our predicament and solving our problems."

Pervasive

He said there was a pervasive sense of insecurity fostered by rampant criminality, drug trafficking, homelessness and the breakdown of law and order in the state.

As government authority disintegrates, he said, violent criminals have been filling the vacuum and are fast becoming the real government of the country.

Hoyte stated that the restoration and maintenance of good order in the state and the security of citizens are matters of absolute priority in the present situation of near anarchy.

He said critical to the issue is the functioning of the Guyana Police Force and the security services.

He said unless there is reform of the law enforcement agencies all other efforts at national reconstruction and development would fail.

He recommended again that a commission of enquiry be set up to review the operations of the force. This would give citizens, including members of the force, the opportunity to identify the strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations for its rapid transformation into a highly effective service.

He suggested the commission would be able to deal with recruitment, training, remuneration, conditions of service, public relations, and the establishment and maintenance of public confidence and support.

He posited that the commission would also identify and make recommendations for eliminating unacceptable patterns of behaviour by the few undesirables, such as brutality and extra judicial killings.

However, the PNC/R leader pointed out that the radical improvement in the efficiency of the force will not quell the crime wave.

Interlinked

He stressed that the wide range of interlinked root causes will have to be dealt with, such as poverty, unemployment, homelessness, corruption in high places, bad social conditions, and lack of opportunity.

"These problems do not stand in isolation; they are interlinked; and we have to approach their solution in a holistic manner, recognising that reforms in one area cannot be undertaken independently of reforms in other areas. We have to recognise the linkages, and act appropriately as we proceed on a broad front."

He declared that recognition must be given to the link between education reforms and competitiveness; between judicial and public service reform and investment; between crime and anti-social behaviour on one hand, and poverty, unemployment and lack of investment on the other; between malfunctioning national institutions and economic decline; between regional and local government reform and the success of programmes designed to deal with backwardness and disempowerment.

"Programmes dealing with health are as much a part of the thrust to stimulate economic productivity as is the programme of investment incentives. The role of women and the support for family and children programmes are as much a part of the development of society as is the need for fiscal reform. Congress must note all this inter-connectedness as we derive our plans for capturing those systemic efficiencies necessary for national development."

Hoyte said high on the list of reforms must be the ones necessary to upgrade and modernise the judicial and legal system and the public service to enable them to discharge their functions with the highest degree of skill and professionalism.

He said the aim must be to provide decent levels of remuneration and good conditions of service, establish and maintain high standards of integrity and efficiency, and consolidate a culture of professionalism.

Hoyte noted that a successful outcome to the efforts of national reconstruction would require a creation or revival of key national partnerships in the economic and political spheres.

He said modalities would have to be established for identifying major areas for national consensus building and for deriving agreed broad-based policy positions.

"Such an arrangement will allow opportunity for full participation of various political and social forces, remove major policy considerations from the exclusive arena of partisan politics, and move into the sphere of national consensus."

The objective, he said, will be to reorganise the country in ways to make it more creative, efficient and competitive and "to this end we have to remove the deadening hand of government as the principal force in allocating resources and introduce arrangements in which key programmes and sectors are mutually reinforcing and generate their own synergies."

Hoyte said there is little doubt that a major source of the country's difficulties is the absence of opportunities for large sections of the citizens, especially the young people.

He argued that the problem would have to be tackled energetically by formulating a raft of programmes to provide jobs and restore hope through investment, skills training, and business development.

He recommended there be radical reform of the education sector to make it more relevant to the national resource endowment and development needs.

The reform must ensure that the children of the poor are not denied equal opportunities, and also must facilitate training in a wide range of skills required for the efficient functioning of a modern society, including training in business techniques and entrepreneurship.

Compulsion

Hoyte proposed that the reintroduction of the Guyana National Service, with the element of compulsion removed, would be a desirable initiative for imparting appropriate skills and attitudes in the young people.

He declared that the country has failed to utilise two huge reservoirs of human resources over the years-youth and women.

He said it is a heavy investment that would be justified and yield significant returns.

Another important aspect of national development is the restoration and strengthening of village culture and traditions, Hoyte said.

He contended that the traditions must be encouraged as a means of promoting self-reliance and empowerment.

The Opposition Leader, who is running again for the top post in the party, said that being in tune with information technology is crucial to the success of any development strategy and the young people must be encouraged to familiarise themselves with the necessary tools.

He said everything possible must be done to promote the acquisition and utilisation of the new technology and persuade all citizens to make use of it.

This is necessary, he said, to keep abreast with the rest of the world with the aim of making Guyana an active player in the global economy.

Listing some of the core principles of the PNC/R, Hoyte said his was a multi-ethnic party which is open to all Guyanese who are prepared to subscribe to its political and social philosophy.

He said the party rejects all forms of racism and espouses gender equity.

"We believe in a free and open society based upon democratic values in which citizens can express themselves and voice their opinions without fear of victimisation or reprisal. In this connection, we have to work for greater transparency in public life and public transactions and, through the enacting of a Freedom of Information Act, invest citizens with the right to know. Secrecy in government is an anachronism that must be swept away."

Hoyte said the PNC/R is committed to a market-oriented economy in which the private sector can operate freely, subject only to the kind of statutory regulations designed to ensure fair play in the marketplace.

He told the Congress that the party must work towards making Guyana an investor-friendly country.

He said that his party would set out rules in the statutory form in an Investment Code and other appropriate legislation.

This will provide a guarantee, he said, of above-board and equitable dealing.

"We reject any system that allows for capricious decision-making which allows one businessman to obtain concessions while another is refused. We reject decisively, political interference, cronyism, and patronage in the award of contracts and benefits. Our task must be to facilitate the entrepreneur and business person not to hamper and frustrate him."

Hoyte said the evidence is clear that the incumbent government is incapable of managing the affairs of the country.

He declared that it is a foolish notion to think that it has a permanent tenure in government and equally foolish to think that the PNC/R would be perpetually out of government.

"Our party must therefore always be organised, ready and prepared with appropriate polices and programmes to form a successful alternative government. Our overriding objective must be to halt our country's precipitate descent into anarchy and put it squarely on the road towards becoming a modern, viable, prosperous state."

Hoyte extended a warm welcome to the delegates who came from regions across Guyana and overseas.

He told them that they have a crucial role to play in the rebuilding of Guyana must be committed to the task, for the future of Guyana lies in their hands.