We must all strive to embrace ‘these great possibilities’ Editorial
Guyana Chronicle
August 15, 2002
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THE CONCEPT of inclusiveness, in its widest terms, encapsulates most of the tenets for justice, peaceful development and human security. All these tenets have assumed an increased urgency in the dawning years of the third millennium with its awesome technological achievements and the perceived diminution of the nation-state. In the mid-1990s, several statesmen including the then United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela and the late President of Guyana Dr Cheddi Jagan, warned at various world fora of the political instability and social devastation that would visit even the industrialised countries in the new century if large numbers of poor people are denied participation in civil processes.

This caveat was expressed most eloquently by French diplomat Jean-Claude Paye in the NEWSWEEK magazine of April 29, 1996. In that interview, Paye, who had recently vacated the post of Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), explained that the process of globalisation meant the opening up of borders, the development of trade and the speeding up of technological change. He argued that these events meant countries would have to quickly implement structural adjustment, which in turn, entailed putting in place the skills and practices required for the new world which is in the making.

Then Paye warned of the danger of leaving sections of the society out of this brave new world. He said: “If the structural adjustment is too slow and if part of the society - and this holds true also in the United States - has the impression that it has not been treated fairly, that it has been let down, that it has been excluded, this is the ground where protectionist pressures and dangerous political pressures will germinate and grow. That’s why I keep stressing that it’s important to have price stability, to promote structural adjustment and to make sure that no part of the society is left out.”

In the Guyana situation, the case for inclusiveness was forthrightly presented in May 1998, during a visit to this country by Ms Clare Short, a Cabinet Secretary in Tony Blair’s Labour Government of Britain. Ms Short uttered two admonitions to the Guyanese people. The first admonition came during the commissioning ceremony of the $40M L’Oratoire Water Works, Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara. Financial assistance from her government, Ms Short said, would only be forthcoming if countries are serious about poverty reduction. She was looking forward to seeing “really systematic progress in Guyana for all the poor … whatever communities they live in”.

Later, at a press briefing held at Le Meridien Pegasus prior to her departure, the British Minister made her second admonition, and it was one that spoke directly to the heart of the political divisiveness plaguing this nation. Ms Short prefaced her remarks with the comment that Guyana had been experiencing a difficult economic period, but that the country’s prospects had advanced in all sorts of spheres. She then pointed out that these efforts are needed so that Guyana’s politics could embrace these great possibilities that now exist for the country. Ms Short expressed the view that Guyana should move away from the winner-take-all politics to a kind of inclusive politics where everyone could get behind the progress of the country.

The British politician reasoned brilliantly that if the country’s next period could be managed very well politically, the prospects for Guyana could be great for everybody. Ms Short’s exhortations, especially on the importance of a broader political schema for the inclusion of all, are worthy of serious consideration by all political leaders as well as other stakeholders of this society.