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Hypocrisy is an important concept in our culture and a very negative one. Its importance is exemplified by the multitude of idioms we have for the act, such as “saying one thing while doing another”, “talking the talk but not walking the walk”, and the expectation that one needs to “practice what you preach”. This behaviour under all its labels, is commonly judged as unethical or worse. But, there is something repulsive about hypocrisy because it always involves some form of deception.
At its most basic level, political hypocrisy is when a political party campaigned on values that it then betrayed with its action in office. Such hypocrisy is an unpardonable transgression. This action affects the public judgements of the government’s competence to manage the affairs of the state. While in opposition, the PPP/C campaigned on social justice and recognition of the rights of the working class. That party championed other things such as the renegotiation of the oil contract, the alleviation of poverty, 50% increase for public servants, draining the swamp. Nearly four years after, in government, that party has blatantly acted against all those values and campaign promises. But can a leopard change its spots? Plainly, no! So, too, it is almost impossible for the PPP/C to change its deceitful and cunning ways. In fact, that party is like the chameleon that usually camouflages to deceive but it is the same cold- blooded lizard; it is the same uncaring PPP/C. But the PPP/C is influenced by the environment in which it operates. We must continue to take appropriate actions to impact that environment and cause real change.
Sadly, our dedicated teachers and hard- working public servants continue to feel the sharp jagged edge of the regime’s hypocrisy. Guyanese would recall that when the PPP/C was in opposition, its leader, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo was loud, in and out of parliament, in his support for the demands of the teachers saying, among other things, that their demands were not unreasonable. At that time, he was of the publicly expressed view that, perhaps, the government could easily pay a 50% increase to teachers and public servants. The words and deeds of the then opposition leader, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo on this issue are available in the archives of Parliament and the media. As well, they are on certain social media platforms.
Now Vice President in the PPP/C government, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, appears to be at a loss as to why teachers are dissatisfied with their salaries and other conditions of work, which were never addressed by the incumbent. Now that our teachers have taken bold and appropriate action to withhold their services in strike action, he (Jagdeo) fumes profusely at the leaders of the unions. He, and his Ministers of Education and Labour deemed the strike illegal. They are hypocrites of the baser sort. Let hypocrites go to hell! It is the place where all hypocrites, including political ones, must go. This is according to the Holy Bible Matthew 23: 13- 16, Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3 verse 6, describes ‘mithyacharah’, 63rd chapter (surah) of the Quran, with 11 verses.
Beyond that, this government has shamelessly disregarded the rights of workers to collective bargaining. As I understand it, collective bargaining is based on the recognition of the fact that employers enjoy greater social and economic power than individual workers. Workers therefore need to act in concert to provide them collectively with sufficient power to bargain effectively with employers. Workers exercise collective power primarily through the mechanisms of strike action. This is exactly what our teachers are engaged in.
The teachers’ struggle is a struggle for all of us and our children because if they are not physically, mentally and financially comfortable then the quality of delivery of education can be negatively affected. This would most certainly have an effect on the way our children are taught and the way they learn. Maybe, this is why in many communities, parents are supporting their teachers by standing with them. I must encourage more parents to stand up with the teachers of their children. It is clear, we cannot and will not support and cooperate with this regime that continues to think that there is more utility in pouring concrete- constructing bridges, roads, schools, hospitals and other buildings but seems to find little value in investing in the lives of its teachers and citizens.
Nevertheless, a more fundamental issue is at stake here. It is the issue of public trust in the incumbent. Citizens do not trust this authoritarian regime.
Yet, one of the characteristics of a prosperous, democratic state is growing public trust in the government. Another characteristic of a democratic country is that the government considers the public interest before making decisions. Considering the public interest is essential because the public is an object that gives authority to the government to run its government to serve the community. This effort is part of the government’s performance. The performance of a government can run effectively if it gains the whole trust of the public compared to if the government gets little trust from the public. To obtain the public’s trust, the government must implement good governance as one of its measures. The manifestation of good power is good governance. Again, good governance consists of responsiveness, accountability, and transparency. These three components have to do with the public’s faith in government.
In this beloved country of ours, citizens must take the word of the government with more than a pinch of salt; the majority of citizens have become unbelievers in the PPP/C government and everything it represents because it is the epitome of political hypocrisy. The government, without a bat of an eyelid, says one thing but does quite another. It demonstrates that it is really interested in its own partisan agenda manifest through structural discrimination, opaque governance, and corruption. Anyone who observes the current situation in Guyana would notice that Guyanese do not trust the PPP/C government.
Citizens are fully aware of the hypocrisy of the regime. They know the games and evils of the incumbent. Seems like many are taking their own actions to compensate for what they are losing through the unfairness and injustices brought about by government’s discriminatory and lopsided policies. Just look at the performance reports of the non-oil sectors of our economy and the picture would become clear that outside of oil, nothing else is happening for Guyana. People are hardly motivated to work and to build this country. As for the PPP/C it is not governing our country; it is busy spending oil revenues and “selling the family silverware”. The interplay between the lack of public trust in the government and its epic corruption is facilitating the rise of a people that would move forward in unity and demand change.
