INCLUSIVE, TRANSPARENT AND RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCE
Inclusive Governance
The plural nature of modern societies in general, and our Guyanese one in particular, ensure that there will be diverse interests amongst the people.
Since this diversity will be reflected in the institutions that they choose to represent them in the realm of politics, it is logical that the approach to governance must be inclusive.
To proceed otherwise is to ensure that the legitimacy of governments and other institutions will be challenged by large sections of the community.
This inclusiveness, therefore, is not limited to the form of government (which would lead to the politics of consensus and coalition building) but should inform all processes of governance.
Transparent and Responsive Governance
The authoritarian form of governance inherited from the colonial era has been perpetuated by all succeeding governments.
This form of governance locks out the citizenry from the workings of the state and inevitably leads to high handedness, inefficiency and corruption.
A “Freedom of Information Act” must be enacted but is only a beginning. All the workings of governance must be subject to scrutiny by the representatives of the people.
The Parliamentary Sectoral Committees must be allowed to receive petitions directly from the public, in accordance with the stipulations of Article 13, to assist in ensuring that the Government is responsive to the concerns of the people.
Chapter II: Article 13
The principal objective of the political system of the state is to establish an exclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens and their organisations in the management and decision-making processes of the State, with particular emphasis on those decision-making that directly affect their well-being.
FREE-ENTERPRISE ECONOMY
A free-enterprise economy does not mean a nineteenth-century, robber-baron, capitalist economy as some fear.
It simply means that the primary driving force for economic activity will be incentives in the form of private ownership and accumulation and the major coordinator will be the market forces which will provide the necessary discipline for our products to compete in the modern world.
The state will have a role not only in the regulatory arena but also as a generator of economic activity (privately owned) when the private sector is not making full use of economic opportunities (market failure).
The model proposed is along Japanese and Far Eastern lines rather that the total reliance on markets as implied by the Washington Consensus guidelines (market fundamentalism).
The social capital generated through our village movement that created so much economic activity in the beginning has unfortunately been sidelined. We have to re-invoke and nurture the spirit of cooperation that is still surviving to generate economic activity at the village level.
Chapter II: Article 14
The goal of economic development includes the objective of promoting and encouraging an economic system capable of achieving and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage in the context of a global competitive environment, by fostering entrepreneurship, individual and group initiative and creativity, and strategic alliances with domestic and global business partners in the private sector.
STATE AS A FACILITATOR OF PROGRESS
As mentioned in the section on “Free-enterprise economy”, the state has a role in facilitating economic activity but its role does not stop there. The state has a role to facilitate distributive and all forms of justice and can utilise policies such as Affirmative Action to enable disadvantaged groups to develop themselves.
Ethnic Impact Statement
In an ethnically divided society the operations of the State must be seen to be fair to all groups. It is proposed that an “Ethnic Impact Statement” be submitted to a special unit to be established within the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) when any legislative act or administrative regulation is promulgated. The Constitution already provides for the ERC to deal with this requirement:
By Article 212D (j), one function of the ERC is to, “monitor and review all legislation and all administrative acts or omissions relating to or having implications for ethnic relations and equal opportunities.”
Chapter II: Article 15
The goal of economic development includes the objective of laying the material basis for the greatest possible satisfaction of the people’s growing material, cultural and intellectual requirements, as well as the dynamically stable development of their personality, creativity, entrepreneurial skills, and cooperative relations in a plural society.
The state shall intervene to mitigate any deleterious effects of competition on individuals or groups of individuals.
GUYANESENESS: PATRIOTISM, NATIONAL PRIDE AND A SENSE OF DUTY
One of the main impediments in the path of our development has been the absence of a strong, overarching sense of “national identity” that would facilitate the cooperative spirit necessary for achieving the success we all want for our country in the community of nations.
There has been an unfortunate confusion between “ethnic nation” (centred on the various strands of cultural heritages) and “civic nation” centred on values that ideologically defines our Guyanese nationality. It is now accepted that they do not have to be one and the same.
We can (and must) foster and encourage values that makes us “Guyanese”: love for this land, sacrifice for Guyana , respect for our national symbols, respect for the cultures of others, friendliness and hospitality, cricket, equality etc.
These values must be nurtured in the homes and taught in the schools.
Chapter II Article 7
It is the duty of every citizen of Guyana wherever he may be and of every person in Guyana to respect the national flag, the coat-of-arms, the national anthem, the national pledge and the Constitution of Guyana, and to treat them with due and proper solemnity on all occasions.
Chapter II Article 33:
It is the duty of every citizen to defend the State.
BELIEF IN A SUPREME BEING
Guyana is a very religious society and our Constitution reflects this orientation by invoking the protection of God at the end of its preamble.
The fact that our state is “secular” does not mean the absence of God’s guidance in our deliberations, but merely the State’s equidistance from, and impartiality towards, the several religions of our people.
With respect to our political and social life, the centrality of a Supreme Being – by definition in all the religions meaning the only Perfect Being – implies the limited nature of man’s powers and knowledge.
With this perspective always in front of us, we should be wary of those who claim the possession of “perfect” truth and accept the possibility that we may be mistaken. The politics of accommodation and coalition of interests should then be the logical choice in the political realm.
Preamble: May God protect our people
