Georgetown : Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira underlined that conditions such as a free press, is one of the basic principles of a democratic society, noting that an open and free press exists in Guyana.
She noted that government has only one television station, one radio station and a single newspaper. In contrast there a total of 20 television stations, 13 radio stations and four daily newspapers, hence the private sector is in control of the mass media, she said.
Speaking on the issue of governance on the television programme, ‘Political Scope’ on the National Communications Network last evening, she added that the media, however, is expected to comply with the laws of Guyana.
Examining the electoral laws, the presidential adviser said that dictators don’t like or hold elections, and, “If they do they are often rigged”. Guyana has had five free and fair elections since 1992, overseen by international observers, she pointed out, and unlike in years past, at no point were they described as fraudulent. “We are proud of that fact, the fact people have the right to vote unencumbered, unfettered”.
Speaking on the rule of law, Teixeira explained that this is supervised by the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. She said the latter is intact, independent and doesn’t bow to the government, which she added, incidentally also losses many of the cases brought before the court and wins some.
There is no saluting or allegiance pledged to the flag of the ruling party as obtained during the PNC regime, she further noted. Persons are also free to bring constitutional motions before the courts, if they feel their basic human rights are violated.
“We are free to go to rallies, we are free to picket. The opposition has not been prevented from having a say, they have not been prevented from holding their picketing in front of Office of the President…what they are told is that there are certain rules in law that you have to obey and that’s it”.
The claims that Guyana is a “failed state” were also dismissed by Teixeira, “If you have a failed state, nothing works, the institutions of the state don’t work the judiciary, the executive, the legislature don’t work. That’s when we talk about a failed state”. These terms are being “thrown” around by the “intellectuals” and leaders of the political opposition and are absolutely fallacious, she stated. “They are trying to ‘mamaguy’ or fool people”. It is easy, she added to say these things instead of saying that there are some things that they don’t agree with.
She labelled the political opposition as the actual dictators who through the “myth” of the one seat, feel they can run the government from the outside. The fact that the opposition took such strong positions and cut some $ 90 billion in total from the national budget, is an indication, Teixeira opined of what will happen if they should ever gain power, since their position is dictatorial already.
Teixeira is confident that Guyanese will be able to analyse the statements made by the opposition and be conscious of what they are attempting to do. She recalled that a study done in 1991 showed that 67% of Guyanese were living below the poverty line, and the APNU, formerly PNC, is uncomfortable with this fact. The PNC government, which is recognised as a dictatorship was unable to “deliver the goods” because they were busy catering to one sector of society, supported at the time by the army and or police, and or rigged elections. The situation that obtains at present is reversed with 67% of the people living above the poverty line, she noted.
Claims that government is not listening to the people were also debunked by Teixeira who noted that programmes such as the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), bills and various programmes have all been vetted by stakeholders and civil society before even reaching to Cabinet for final consideration.
There have been no real compromises reached in the Parliament by the political opposition, and with the one seat majority, they operate in a dictatorial manner, she restated. The example of the United States of America’s Congress which is now controlled by the Republicans was cited by the presidential adviser, who said that despite their differences, they have “risen to the occasion” when the need to support the Democratic Party, which controls the Executive arose. In Guyana, neither the APNU nor the AFC have risen to the call to “put the nation first” but rather have gone on record for the last three years as doing the exact opposite.
The claims that President Donald Ramotar was dictatorial in his refusal to assent to four bills passed by the opposition were also set aside by Teixeira. She said that in meetings with the political opposition and the government officials, the offer to assent to the contested bills was made by the president, but close to a year has elapsed, Teixeira said, yet the opposition has not moved to the courts. “They know that these bills are unconstitutional”.
The aforementioned actions can have an impact, but people must think for themselves and recall “then and now, pre 92 and now”.
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