Systems must be made more responsive to needs of all Guyanese - Carter
Stabroek News
August 12, 2004
Former US President Jimmy Carter believes the basic integrity of Guyana's political, social and economic systems must be made more responsive to the needs and aspirations of all Guyanese.
He made the point in a six-line statement he issued on his arrival in the country mid-afternoon yesterday. He reiterated what the Carter Center had been saying all along that the purpose of his visit was to assess whether the centre could make a further contribution to this need and the aspirations of all Guyanese.
Analysts say this statement sought to lay a foundation for him to dialogue with several political and civil society groups which believe that their constituencies have been left out of the country's political, social and economic systems. This belief has led to several of them including the main opposition party pressing strongly for power sharing.
Stating that he had a deep personal interest in Guyana, he thanked President Bharrat Jagdeo for his invitation to visit Guyana and said he looked forward to meeting with Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin, and members of the Guyanese civil society. He is due to start off a round of meetings with members of civil society, and the public and private sectors today.
Carter met with Jagdeo at the Office of the President shortly after his arrival and the full media had been invited to cover by the Office of the President. On arrival Jagdeo told the media not to ask Carter any questions and Carter added that he had a press conference tomorrow afternoon and would be glad to answer questions then.
Meanwhile, representatives from a number of public and private sector organisations yesterday said they were willing to hear what he has to say bearing in mind the goodwill that the international community, including the Carter Center, showed to Guyana in recent years.
WPA Parliamentarian, Sheila Holder who is due to meet with the former President tomorrow, said "quite frankly" she wanted to hear what he had to say. She said she would like to see the goodwill extended to the country, converted into national good but the reality is that Guyana was far from achieving the national desire for peace, harmony and justice, an ideal which the Carter Center has supported since monitoring the 1992 general elections.
Holder sees Carter's visit as an indication of the goodwill that is bestowed on the country but the challenge to make it work lies in overcoming the deception that prevails at certain levels in the society.
The economic threats facing the sugar industry with recent developments at the global level, she said, will be an additional problem to that of extra judicial killings, death squads, and the issue of lost hope, among other social and political ills.
Noting that Carter, who helped brokered a deal for free and fair elections here in 1992 and has maintained an abiding interest in Guyana, was scheduled to meet with the PNCR, today and tomorrow, she feels that Carter would probably try to act as a mediator between the government and the PNCR in a bid to get the opposition party back in parliament and return the governance of the country to some semblance of order. Whatever, she said is negotiated, it must be a win-win situation and not one in which the PNCR would feel that returning to parliament would strengthen the hands of the administration in a situation when the governance of the country leaves much to be desired.
She noted that all sides of the political divide want better governance and the PPP/C has it within its capability to deliver a better level of governance and not throw onto the opposition a demand or condition to react. She said the initiative must come from the government with an appropriate response from the PNCR.
Commenting on Carter's visit, ROAR Leader, Ravi Dev said that while there have been a number of initiatives, including those supported by the Carter Center to build a democracy in Guyana, they were not sufficient to lift the country out of the morass it finds itself in. He sees some of the initiatives in this respect by the international community as still necessary to move towards greater inclusiveness especially as regards the major opposition.
He feels that the National Development Strategy developed by Guyanese from all walks of life and which was supported by the Carter Center could be used as the nucleus to kick-start the process. Instead, he said one only hears that the NDS is there and that the PPP/Civic government was working from it but emphasis was placed on a Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP) coming out of the Office of the President.
Stating that the international community has to have some end-game in sight, he said support by the international community for democratic strengthening, while forthcoming, has not been reflected in the results in terms of governance and social stability.
Also commenting on the invitation to meet with Carter was Executive Member of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA), Maxie Fox, who said that based on the invitation ACDA has its position on a number of issues which are in the public domain. However, he said that ACDA was not going to go "whining" to him but to relate to him the reality facing Guyanese of African ancestry in the country.
ACDA's point of view is that if the problems affecting Guyanese of African descent were not addressed in the national development context, there would be consequences which would arise as seen among the more impoverished and depressed people in societies in general.
Kid James of the Amerindian People's Association (APA) said the organisation was not sure why it was invited but will honour the invitation noting the efforts of the Carter Center in the past to assist in institutional strengthening of indigenous communities and their representatives.
He recalled that the Carter Center took a lot of flak for assisting in hosting a conference of Amerindian leaders at Lake Mainstay over the past year even though the conference was a collaborative effort between the APA, the Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. While the government did not support the creation of a National Toshao Council at the time, he said it was formed but it is still in need of support for capacity building.
James said support is also needed for Amerindian communities, especially to ensure that their recommendations are contained in a new or revised Amerindian Act.
Carter, US President from 1976-80, is also due to meet with individual representatives of the local private sector, the labour movement and the PNCR and members of parliament today and tomorrow. His visit ends tomorrow afternoon. (Miranda La Rose)