Issues PNM, UNC left behind

After this information-loaded election campaign ends and the results are declared, there will be joyous celebration for some, tears and grief for others, with lots of complaining, blaming and courthouse threats to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

In fact, I too have found the declared “mistakes” and apparent lack of proper preparation by the EBC tend to reduce the electorate’s confidence in the EBC – not good for free and fair elections.

I am concerned because I have been an official election observer for three controversial national elections and witnessed the mischief that can happen before and during polling at each election. That is with the Lord Avebury team for the 1980 Guyana elections, the 1989 Panama elections, and the 1990 Nicaragua elections. Further, as executive director of the Caribbean Institute for Human Rights (1989-1994), our human rights team looked at elections in several Caribbean states. From all this, I advise caution and vigilance over tomorrow’s national elections.

The 1980 Guyana election was a real eye-opener. Polling agents and observer teams themselves must pay close attention to the registration and counting at the polling stations as well as the security of ballot box transportation.

Overall, though, there should be a healthy discussion on the extent to which the lavish political advertising of our 2025 election has influenced the election results one way or another.

Over sixty years ago, our politics had two radio stations and no television, making it very hard for the Opposition and the political activists. Today, mass media has changed very much.

More than that, we now have social media where everybody has a voice, one way or another, wreaking havoc on those who wish to control or hide.

Today, politics has changed dramatically mainly through this information explosion with elements ranging from frivolities, rumours and propaganda to debates on constitutional fundamentals. This technologically driven development is very important to note since it has implications for the enlightened ideas and consensus that a healthy democracy requires. The voice of the people is not always the voice of God.

For the sake of the country’s democracy, in the swirling midst of fleeting opinions, allegations and sensational headlines, it is necessary to retain sight of fundamental requirements some of which I think the PNM and UNC have left behind in the campaign battle.

(1) The Opposition UNC has been incessantly clamouring for “accountability” by the PNM government. But that call and the Opposition itself end up as shadowboxing. The executive (eg ministers) dominate parliament.

What kind of democracy is it when citizens elect representatives who, already without resources, can only talk, talk and talk in parliament? (special majority excepted) Majority-driven executive control over a “democratic” parliament has outlived its usefulness. Especially with a narrow majority backed by 16 unelected senators, some as ministers.

Specific accountability gets obscured with the five-year vote.

Constitutionally-driven accountability with political clout should be in parliament where the elected representatives (legislature) could demand accountability from ministers (executive) with statutory sanctions.

This cannot happen at present. Why? Because the spenders of taxpayers’ money, the decision-makers – the executive – comfortably sit together with a “Caesar to Caesar” legislature. That is why the country needs an executive selected by a president elected by the whole country. The details can be worked out by wiser heads – constitution reform.

The founder of the separation of powers, Baron de Montesquieu, golden warning: “When the legislature and executive powers are unified in the same person or same body, there can be no liberty.”

2. A fixed election date to stabilise the electoral system with certainty for a fair and free election. It is too self-serving to leave it to the PM and unfair to other parties – small or big.

3. Election campaign finance and review of the EBC. The electorate and all parties deserve a fairly regulated system. Financial support is helpful, yes, but we are drifting into a mercenary democracy.

The early step towards democratisation Dr Eric Williams took from 1956 should be continued into fuller decolonisation. Why do our politicians lack the courage now? The political tragedy the country faces is that whichever party wins the election, we will still hear the same excuses, opaque expenditures and questionable performance without the sanctioned accountability a healthy democracy deserves.

The long lists of expensive promises made by both parties will fall into the same “Caesar to Caesar” parliament.

Why did the PNM and UNC leave these fundamental issues behind?