Last week's general election in Guyana, with its resultant hung Parliament, has put that country in unaccustomed territory which, we believe, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) must be prepared to help it chart

CARICOM Must Help Guyana

jamaica-gleaner editorial

Jamaica, W.I.


Last week's general election in Guyana, with its resultant hung Parliament, has put that country in unaccustomed territory which, we believe, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) must be prepared to help it chart.

In that regard, the Community's leaders, while mindful of the line between support and meddling, should, through their chairman, signal to all parties the availability of their good offices to work through difficulties. This kind of pre-emptive political action, we suggest, is in that spirit of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, on which rests the programme for widening and deepening regional integration.

In Guyana's proportional representation electoral system, the People's Progressive Party (PPP)/Civic alliance gained 48.6 per cent of the votes cast a week ago, a plurality that assured it of 32 of the 65 seats in the national assembly. Its candidate, the PPP's general secretary, Mr Donald Ramotar, was, on the basis of the return, elected president.

But while PPP/Civic gets to form the government, it will be a minority administration. Between them, the two other groups, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change, gained 51.1 per cent of the votes and 33 of the legislative seats.

This means that unless the PPP can co-opt the Alliance for Change, which got seven seats, from its 10.3 per cent of the votes, it will have to govern by consensus, dependent on the opposition for the passage of legislation. The assumption is that the PPP/Civic has, in the Alliance for Change, its best shot at a coalition partner, given that the Alliance for Change's leader, Mr Khemraj Ramjattan, is a former, though excommunicated, member of the PPP.

Long-standing tensions

It is less likely that APNU, dominated by the largely Afro-Guyanese-supported People's National Congress (PNC), would be a coalition partner of choice for PPP/Civic and, in any event, would be less likely to willingly be part of a formal unity government.

Indeed, the history of Guyana's race-based politics and the long-standing tensions between the Indo-Guyanese-supported PPP and the PNC, which held power for 28 years until 1992, complicate issues. The current situation is likely to be further aggravated by claims from some elements of the PNC who believe that voting irregularities may have cost them the election.

In 1997, similar concerns by the PNC led to riots in the Guyanese capital of Georgetown which, gratefully, were contained. CARICOM, at that time, contributed to the efforts at calming tempers and in giving a stamp of legitimacy to the administration of the then president, Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Community should, this time, act early to head off any breakdown to prevent this important member of CARICOM descending into violent turmoil, the potential for which is exacerbated by the politics of ethnicity.

The better outcome for Guyana, of course, is where we started - administration by consensus. This assumes that the parties read the election result as a signal for them to retreat from a deep-rooted, race-based heritage. That is difficult, but not impossible.

We are encouraged by the initial talks between Messrs Ramotar, Ramjattan and APNU's David Granger. Should the PPP/Civic administration get going, a substantial test will come in a few months when it has to pass a budget, failure at which will precipitate a new election. In the meantime, CARICOM should help the Guyanese keep their country on even keel.

December 4, 2011

jamaica-gleaner editorial

Gleaner newspaper suggests disbanding CARICOM

by Oscar Ramjeet:



Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders are now meeting in Montego Bay in Jamaica, and the Gleaner, the leading and most widely read newspaper in the region, has come out in a blistering attack against the regional group.

The editorial was published only days after former Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Sir Shridath Ramphal, who is a well known advocate for regional integration, spoke of the non-performance of the Georgetown-based CARICOM Secretariat.

And St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, also voiced his disapproval when he said that CARICOM lacks leadership.

The Gleaner said that the leaders at their Montego Bay meeting should be honest with themselves and declare their inability to provide "serious leadership" to the integration process.

The editorial added, "Should they so decide, the next step is obvious: disband the community and allow its 15 members to find their own way in the world. Or, if they desire, form alliances with alternative trade and economic organisation."

It added, "This is not a position that this newspaper has arrived at lightly, like the conceptualisers of CARICOM, and the millions of people who have invested much hope in the institution understand the logic of integration. But the logic is one thing, its application is another. It is on the latter front, for nearly four decades we have failed.

“As a concept and treaty, CARICOM was and remains an excellent idea -- as a single market, to be transported into a seamless economy and as a functional cooperation and economic grouping. It has had some successes, mainly on the political front."

It also stated that, in 36 years, CARICOM has failed to plan, contrive, or achieve an economic breakthrough and "In those countries that have enjoyed relative success, it has had little to do with their membership of CARICOM.”

I recall Sir Shridath, in a passionate presentation, told a graduating class at the University of the West Indies at St Augustine in 1977, 33 years ago, the importance of regional integration and questioned that this region with a population of five million has the most prime ministers and overseas missions with ambassadors and high commissioners than any other country in the planet.

I have time and time again criticised the slow pace of the regional movement and one time referred to it as CARIGONE instead of CARICOM.

The Gleaner stated that if the heads of government who are gathered in Montego Bay are serious about CARICOM and wish the region's support, they must provide bankable assurances that they will mend their ways.

It also referred to Trinidad and Tobago being unfair in denying national treatment to its partners with regard to energy supplies, thus giving its own manufacturers an unfair advantage in this seamless market

It also called for leaders to finally agree on a system that gives executive authority to a supranational body to ensure implementation of decisions taken by heads. It also suggested that there should be an accommodation of shared sovereignty.

It is felt that the organisation has no effective implementation mechanism, nor are they penalties for reneging on undertakings. So, leaders attend summits, talk a lot, arrive at decisions and give undertakings which, for the most part, are never fulfilled.

This in my view should be corrected as soon as possible and I sincerely hope that the Montego Bay summit will iron out the differences of the various leaders and they work together towards a unified movement -- they should remember unity is strength.

July 5, 2010

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