Guyanese voters have been given to much advice on how to vote and what must be voted for that is almost unkind to add another dollop of counsel to their already overloaded minds. Might be too much, enough to sink them. But I must give a little contribution from the sideline, with which I am growing more comfortable. I begin by telling voters what not to do, how to exercise the power of the ballot wisely, responsibly.
Vote conscience, eligible citizens have been advised. It is warming to discover that there is still some capacity left for the deliberations of conscience, what was believed to have fled these shores for decades never to return, leaving the motherland worse for wear. There will be no telling to vote convictions, only that it is in this new oil nation’s interests to have the courage of those convictions that get the most out it. Stand up and struggle for it, or be prepared to lose the bulk of its riches. There is no telling of who to vote for, who not to vote for, for such is neither my business nor within my pay scale. I do have my sympathies, though; they are not taken lightly.
Since there is so much astonishing accuracy with local political memory, all that is said is this: don’t go back to the last 60 years, let the dead past die a natural death. This is the Guyana of a new era. Just limit the time horizon to the last five years. There were merits and matters of national issues embedded in the record, with some that speak for themselves, some that don’t speak at all. There could be that much difficulty dealing with them, that even the mere pondering, the mere recollections leave one breathless with one or two questions. Why was that so? How could that be in a country of which the world hails? Why did there have to be so many secrets, so many outpourings of abuse and, worse, deliberate slander? On the matter of manifestoes, they are like last month’s newspapers. Fit for the archives; or unfit for human consumption. To say this differently, manifestoes are not worth the paper on which they are written. Then, there is that third question that all Guyanese must face up to straight up, possess the honesty to answer fairly and squarely.
How am I doing today when compared to five years ago? There have been the biggest and brightest and boldest headlines with Guyana’s name splashed across their pages. Have Guyanese lived an experience that corresponds in some way with all those glittering numbers? There is none better, not as many who are equipped as the army of left back and forgotten Guyanese to respond to those questions. The poor ones. The ones who are unable to manage on their own, not with what comes in their hands. With some of the gaudiest statistics that are fastened to the names of Guyanese, then who did well, who struggled, and how many know the bitter latter from having walked that lonely and painful road? Amid the glittering numbers and claims of great political achievements why are so many Guyanese still bailing out of this country year after year?
So, I have heard about conscience to be voted, the record that could be upheld, and thus who is deserving five years with the levers of power in their hands. One of the three major contenders has no political record against which to perfume him or hold him in disdain. As an aside, the newcomer has another kind of record, which the Guyanese crowding around him seem not to care. A sign of the grimness of the times, when people flock and care less about past history. The two other frontrunners have no such luxury, and will be burdened or freed by the records that stick to them like glue. The non-incumbents can always rightly assert that when the billions flowed in, we weren’t allowed at the table of deliberation. So, what do all of this comes down to on Monday, September 1st?
It is summed up nicely in one word: Trust. That’s trust with a capital T. Who had their chance, and what did they do with it? Not for themselves. But for the Guyanese people. Who should not be invested with that precious trust, and cannot be trusted, with another stint in the corridors of power? Who never held the reins of power, and can he be trusted with so great a responsibility? Trust has its own sanctity about. When that is violated either in political life or normal life, then what is left to talk about, what’s such a conversation worth? Vote peacefully. Then sit back, and enjoy the holiday. Last, be prayerful, which has its own power.
