Category: Editorials

The executive branch of government has taken resort to the courts over the action by the Opposition, in control of the legislative branch by less than 1 per cent, to amend the numbers on the Committee of Selection (CoS) of parliament and to take control of it by awarding itself a 6: 4 majority. The CoS, dubbed not without reason, ‘the mother committee’, has the privilege of constituting all the other parliamentary committees. The opposition wants the formation of the other committees to follow the same membership composition of the…

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UNICEF has recently published their flagship publication, The State of the World’s Children, which each year examines a key issue affecting children. Last year’s report, ‘The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence – An Age of Opportunity,’ focused on adolescence. This year’s report highlights the shift of the world’s population to urban areas and the effects of this on children. “Children in an Urban World” is the theme of this year’s report. As a starting point, the report could be used as a reference point to guide and inform…

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Earlier this month, we discussed the challenges facing the sugar industry in Guyana with a particular focus on labour. (“Reload Sugar”) The new minister of agriculture had announced what we considered to be a more realistic target for the industry this year. The immediate concern then had been precipitated by a strike at Blairmont over workers’ claim that benefits under ‘custom and practice” were violated by management. Unfortunately, since then there has been another symptom of the fragile state of the industry exposed – specifically GuySuCo’s inability to pay the…

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The Americans have an expression – borrowed from their character- defining sport, baseball: “three strikes and you’re out!” In the contest between (round) bat and ball, the hitter is given two free chances (“strikes”) if he misses the ball. A third miss and he’s out. In the so-called ‘new dispensation’ of ‘consensus and cooperation’ ushered in at the last elections, the opposition that secured a majority in parliament was allowed two “strikes” at building trust with the executive. There was first, the selection of the Speaker: the opposition broke tradition…

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Given the uniqueness (for us) of the results delivered at our last elections, President Ramotar’s inaugural address to the National Assembly was salutary for several reasons. There was first of all the need to remind the leadership of this country – not just the political elite present in parliament – of what is at stake at this crucial juncture in our nation’s history. There is the choice between gridlock and stagnation versus progress and growth. There was the choice between placing the needs of the nation in the forefront versus…

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Yet again, Guyana’s former president, Bharrat Jagdeo, has received an honorary doctorate of philosophy for his exemplary work and leadership skills on climate change. Dr Jagdeo received the award from Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Nobel Prize Laureate and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Chancellor of TERI University of India. For the record sake, this is the third honorary doctorate Dr Jagdeo has received. In 2010, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate by the People’s Friendship University of Russia and in 2011, he was awarded…

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It is known globally that Guyana has moved exponentially upwards in the area of economic prosperity, and with good governance of its economy, the country is one of the fastest growing when compared to developing countries globally. The economic indicators are visible, as the new administration has wasted no time in creating the dynamics that are required for pushing social and economic growth. Guyana, in the past, did not conceive the idea for the formation of a ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the question is – should…

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Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon has lamented the inability of the opposition parties- the APNU and the AFC- to follow up with the government’s offer to be part of a Tripartite Committee (along with the government) to discuss some level of consensus on governance policies. This tripartite initiative was the government’s response to the new dispensation occasioned by its securing the Executive with a minority and the combined opposition having a majority in the Legislature. This newspaper is on record as being quite sceptical of the government’s magnanimity, which we…

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We now have a month’s experience with a minority government in Guyana. Knowing this is uncharted waters for us, we seek to expose our politicians and the general public to the reality that others have navigated these waters before us. While there are elements of uniqueness in every situation, there are also elements of commonalities, and from these, we thought we might benefit from these other experiences. Last month, we introduced a survey of the practice of minority governments in several jurisdictions that share a common history of Westminster parliamentary…

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It was the surprise of the year for Jamaicans and the rest of the Caribbean. All the “smart money” – especially the polls and the newspapers – was on the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) to be returned to office in their year-end elections. The JLP held a 32-28 seat advantage over their arch rival People’s National Party (PNP) and had selected a new and youthful leader only two months ago. But the voters had other ideas. While most analysts had focused on the state of the economy as the major…

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