Dear Editor,
Please afford me the opportunity to correct, once again, the goebbelsian attempt to misinform the public on my position on Power Sharing (Inclusive Governance), in Guyana. Mr. Vishnu Bisram seeks in his letter, in the October 26, 2020 edition of Guyana Times, to suggest that my support and advocacy for Power Sharing only occurs during periods when the PNC is out of Government. Not true! It has become the norm for his case be either mischievously or maliciously built on misinformation or misrepresentations.
For the record, I was among those so called “Young Turks”: Sherwood Lowe et al who during Hoyte`s period in Opposition campaigned for Power Sharing in the corridors of the PNC. It should also be recorded that during the post 97 constitution reform process, the PNC allowed its leaders to make independent submissions to the Constitution Reform Commission. One such submission was made under the signatures of Lowe, McAllister et al young but senior members of the PNC. On the Commission, of which I was a member, I championed that cause. That was the most comprehensive submission on Power Sharing, but it failed to gain the support of the PPP dominated Commission. They were in power. The records of the Constitution Reform Commission can be accessed to fact check my contention.
I had cause, in a recent letter to the Editor, to remind the public that during the period of the Granger regime, I publicly called for Power Sharing at the symposium on constitutional reform that was organized by the Carter Centre; sponsored by the British High Commission; and hosted at the University of Guyana. I also alluded to the numerous television programmes throughout the years and between 2015 and 2020, in particular when I called for Power Sharing. It is public record. Why would Bisram, who purports to be an academic/researcher, not check the available sources before misrepresenting the facts to the public? What can his motive be?
He mentioned Dr. Ramharack as one of the intellectuals who in the 1990s advocated for Power Sharing. A few days ago, Dr. Ramharack remind me that I was the first person who engaged him on the question of Power Sharing, in Guyana. That was in the early 90s, during one of his visits to the Institute of Development Studies, UG, where I was a Researcher, at that time.
Let’s continue the search for a solution and ensure that the truth is at the centre of our contributions.
Yours truly,
Vincent Alexander
