Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed is expected to meet tomorrow with Aubrey Norton, Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Leader of that partnership’s List of Representatives in the 2025 Elections. This nation looks forward to a level of political maturity that has been denied to it over the past several years.
We have got to move forward. We have got to remember who leaders are elected to serve, and that is very clear in the Constitution of Guyana. Our political system is representative. No leader is elected to serve his or her own interests. He or she is elected to serve the interests of those who put them in office.
Against this backdrop, I urge both Mohamed and Norton to set aside their personal differences and sit across the table as representatives of the people, mindful of whose interests take priority—not theirs, but the people’s.
Mohamed has a greater responsibility to provide the requisite leadership. Under the Constitution, he is the Leader of the Opposition, a position with both Executive and Parliamentary responsibilities—not only to his party, but to hold the Government accountable and ensure representation for those who did not support the Government or stayed away from participation. He has to understand this.
Let me add my voice to those who have said it was a misstep when he chose to leave APNU out of the Local Government Commission.
The Constitution, in Article 13, specifically speaks to inclusionary democracy as the nation’s principal political objective, requiring organisations and individuals to have a say in the management and decision-making processes of the State that impact their well-being. Local government is one such area, for it is the most basic form of representative democracy in our society. It is grassroots democracy.
Where APNU, the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) and We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) have seats in Parliament, they should collaborate on issues of mutual and national importance. It would also be helpful if the parliamentary opposition extended its tent to those parties that contested the last elections. While they did not secure parliamentary seats, under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, there were people who voted for them to represent their interests.
It is not an accident that our political system is one of PR and not first-past-the-post. It is intended to give everybody a seat at the table. That is a pillar that undergirds inclusionary democracy, something Mohamed, Norton, every politician in this society, and leaders of organisations must not lose sight of.
We have got to move beyond this garrison politics—the tendency to put personalities above universally acceptable principles—and move this nation forward.
As the opposition continues to squabble, the Jagdeo/Ali regime is being allowed to run roughshod over the nation’s resources. Organisations that have taken independent positions and whose principles, for one reason or another, may at times align with those of the Government or the Opposition are increasingly being treated with intolerance.
We have seen in this society a growing intolerance by both sides—opposition and government—where the right to self-determination is not respected for other organisations, but only for themselves. I call on these leaders to stop this behaviour.
I make a special appeal to Mohamed as a young politician: do not forget that when your troubles started, there were persons out there who were prepared to put you to the guillotine without giving you a chance to be heard.
Let me recall here that I, Lincoln Lewis, was among the first who said that, under the Constitution of Guyana, you have a right to due process, including the right to be heard, unto the court of last resort, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Where others were prepared to condemn you before that process began, I stood up and said it must be respected, regardless of how despicable others may find you or what they perceive you have done.
The same principle holds true for Norton. Regardless of how despicable you or others may find him, he is the representative of the APNU list. He has a right to be heard and to provide representation for those who entrusted their confidence in that partnership. There must be constructive engagement.
I also urge you, as Opposition Leader, to be guided in your deliberations and actions by the Constitution. Review not only the parliamentary system and the Opposition Leader’s role, but also the organisations to which the Constitution has entrusted responsibilities in this nation’s development, one of which is the trade union community. They, too, must have a seat at the table.
The principles that have guided this nation’s development from Emancipation to now were built on inclusion, not insularity, and diversity as a strength, not a weakness.
And on the issue of rights, rights are universal. No one has the right to determine that he has the right to deny the rights of others. Likewise, no one has the right to say to this nation that only their rights are important and the rights of others are immaterial.
We must move beyond personality politics to politics grounded in principles. Those principles are enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana. As a trade unionist, I take note that these principles were first adumbrated in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions and United Nations (UN) Declarations. We must return to the Constitution and be guided by these principles.
You cannot claim alienation by the Government while, at the same time, using—or rather, misusing—the Constitution to deny others the right to be involved in decision-making as mandated by the Constitution.
Tomorrow, you have the opportunity to chart a new course for this society, one that has grown tired of garrison politics. Or you can continue to lead this society down a path of no return.
Half of this society did not vote for the People’s Progressive Party as their representative in the political system, and their interests are not being served—including some who many believe voted for the Ali/Jagdeo regime.
I call on you, gentlemen, to let good sense prevail. Put the Constitution and the nation first, for they should never be seen as separate entities but as intertwined.
