CARICOM shouldn’t wait to be surprised by the unexpected

Dear Editor,

The expressions of annoyance, if not frustration with CARICOM’s perceived nonchalant attitude to the caretaker administration’s flouting its obligations under the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society was no unexpected surprise.

It is to be recalled that on February 17, 1997, the Governments of the Caribbean Community subscribed to the Resolution adopting the Charter of Civil Society.

Among its provisions is Article XVII on Good Governance which enjoins Member States to ‘adopt and implement all appropriate measures to ensure good governance which is just, open and accountable.

’In present-day Guyanese context ‘appropriate measures’ should be read to mean holding of free and fair elections, a concern that is uppermost in the minds of the Guyanese electorate

In January 1998, a mere month after the December 1997 elections, CARICOM despatched a Goodwill Mission to Guyana ‘after anxiously wondering whether the political impasse could be managed in such a manner that would not leave a graveyard for the announced victor in the contest and for the next generation of Guyanese.’

That was 21 years ago.

The ‘next generation’ has emerged since that time. But the question as to whether the extant ‘political impasse could be managed in such a manner that would not leave a graveyard for the announced victor’ remains as valid as it was 21 years ago in light of an elections that is long overdue.

The international community, especially CARICOM shouldn’t wait to be surprised by the unexpected, the time for action is now.

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee