propaganda press! boycott Carifesta X

Across two continents at the same time, two presidents were addressing the problems of their respective countries using different methodologies.
The dissimilarities in political styles and political approaches to the use of power typify the essential differences between the politics of the developed, industrial West and the Third World.
In Guyana, in a speech to the annual conference of the Guyana Police Force, President Jagdeo waded into the critics of his government. It was a delivery punctuated with castigations, fulminations and condemnations.
At the same time that President Jagdeo was in an impatient mood, across the Atlantic Ocean, on the European continent, French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave a television interview to mark one year in power.
His sentences were characterized by deceptive French insouciance, controlled verve and typical Sarkozy flair. But underneath all of this was the perception of a smart president that modesty is the best policy when dealing with a frustrated nation.
Wise not to appear pugnacious and impatient, Sarkozy, without even a faint trace of chauvinistic invincibility, admitted that as the President of France for one year, he made mistakes and that he knows that the French people are not happy. He told his interviewer: “Without doubt, I myself made mistakes. I can see very well, there is discontent.”
Back across the ocean in Georgetown, in South America, no such appeasement came from the Guyanese President. In Guyana, “sorry” seems to be the hardest word to say. In Guyana, an apology seems to be a road that must be avoided like the plague.
President Jagdeo, a month ago, at a press conference made reference to a particular individual that was presumed to be associated with violent gunmen. Some details the President offered made the press think he was referring to Mr. Oliver Hinckson.
The President said that no such conclusion could be arrived at because he didn’t name names. The President was on the same wavelength when he spoke to the police officers. With a touch of cynicism, he observed that Guyana has been afflicted with the “expert syndrome.” No names were cited. But logical deduction would reveal that the Bell helicopter controversy was the issue and the remark was directed to those people who have criticized the purchase.
President Jagdeo then made an unusual opinion that is not often seen in world politics. He suggested that Guyanese suffer from schizophrenia. It would be interesting to see how the President explains that observation in subsequent meetings with the press.
There was one angle of his address that this columnist would like to respond to. Mr. Jagdeo showed his frustration at those who see the West as models of democracy but are silent when countries like the US and Britain violate democracy.
He mentioned the prisoners the US are holding at Guantanamo. This columnist has been doing a daily page with this newspaper for years now and in those large volumes of articles, I have had cause to lament undemocratic behaviour on the part of both Tony Blair and President Bush. In a piece last week, I alluded to the fact that the War on Terror may have undermined the judicial system in the US.
The comparison between Guyana and the West in terms of democracy is a conceptual cul-de-sac. The West has a long tradition of democracy that has been permanently entrenched in the psyche of that civilization. Along the way, many democratic institutions may have been bruised but the essential pillars of democracy in the West have endured.
In the Third World, the state has evolved along different lines to that in the Western world. The colonial legacy has left an authoritarian culture in the Third World. The example that underscores this difference is the speeches of President Jagdeo and President Sarkozy.
One president admitted he made mistakes; the other castigates his subjects as having a split personality. One president openly admitted that he can see the discontent among the people that he governs. The other ruler sees the fault not in his government but in the people themselves.
What this presidential contrast reveals is the nature of power in different societies. In a democracy where citizens easily vote out their leaders, would it be wise for a president to upbraid his nation by implying that they are people struck with the condition of schizophrenia? And what about the admission of mistakes?
It was said that one day the Prime Minister under the presidency of Forbes Burnham, Dr. Ptolemy Reid, admitted that the PNC government made a mistake by abolishing the railway line. Mr. Burnham was incensed and rebuked his PM for such a remark.
In Third World politics, the confession by a leader that he/she made mistakes is an admission of weakness. It is a route to be avoided at all cost.
There is a machismo element at work in Third World politics. To appear in front of national television and tell the nation that errors were made in the implementation of policies is something we won’t see in Guyana.
Maybe in some other Third World countries but certainly not in Guyana. In this land, politicians do not have to desperately fight for votes. They are assured of it.
This is the endemic tragedy of Guyana. In the US, that very country that Mrs. Jagan and the President intermittently take swipes at (more so Mrs. Jagan in her weekly Mirror columns), an insulting remark or a rude observation can cause you to lose the presidential race. Politicians there have to listen to the people.
Over here in Guyana, our government can make all sorts of egregious lapses and instead of admitting their erring ways could throw the blame on the citizens themselves.
And such leaders will go on to win elections. Strange country indeed!

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