Outrage over composition of State Boards

The David Granger-led Administration has been trenchantly criticised for alleged ethnic and gender imbalance in the composition of the recently announced State Boards. The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration has also been criticised for failing to consult adequately with the main Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), breaching an agreement brokered by the late Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte and then President Bharrat Jagdeo back in 2003.

Joseph Harmon

Over the past few days, views have been expressed on the paltry number of women selected on these boards, as well as those appointed to chair them. Additionally, persons have expressed dismay at the ethic imbalance reflected in the new appointees, stating that only a meagre number of Indo-Guyanese were included.  On Wednesday, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) flayed the APNU/AFC Administration’s actions, deeming it an affront to women, referring to the unbalanced representation of females on the State Boards. “All Government functionaries responsible should feel ashamed over today’s announcement that only three (9.4 per cent) of the new Chairs of the 32 State Boards in the Finance Sector are females,” the organisation said in a release. According to the GHRA, while the full membership of only 20 out of the 32 boards were disclosed so far, only 18 per cent are females, that is, 22 persons out of a possible 125 as it relates to Boards in the Finance Sector with only one woman named a member on three boards and another woman on two boards.

Turning to the agriculture sector, the GHRA pointed out that out of the 13 new members gazetted on the Guyana Rice Development Board, only one female is named. The organisation also underscored the fact the only three females were named as chairs of the various revamped State Boards. “That the appointments could be released without any attempt to explain or excuse this affront to women, suggests that gender parity had not been a consideration… Whether this insult to women is a one-off thoughtless act or more institutionally determined… is a matter for continuous monitoring,” the GHRA remarked.

Also commenting on the issue of gender imbalance, Chairperson of the Guyana’s Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) Indra Chandarpal, posited that women should not only be included in politics but in all decision-making aspect of society. She noted that there should be a one-third representation of females on all the boards.  Furthermore, Chandarpal urged all sectors to channel their thinking in this direction. “I want the Private Sector, trade unions and other parties that have to appoint additional members to these boards, to consider the fact that the Constitution Reform Process provides for women’s involvement (in all sectors),” the WGEC head stated.

Contacted on Thursday for a comment on these concerns raised, Minister of Social Cohesion Amna Ally, said she is not aware of these issues and has not had a chance to examine the list of the gazetted members, which Cabinet, of which she is a member, had approved. “I don’t know… I can’t really comment because I didn’t go through (the list) with a fine tooth comb,” Ally, who is Government’s point person on racial harmony told this newspaper.

Racial discrimination Meanwhile, on the issue of ethnic imbalance, Businessman and Civil Society Activist Clairmont Lye who in 2007 had returned his National Award owing to what he declared then was “the deterioration of democracy in Guyana” in a letter in another section of the media stated that he was expecting persons to be selected based “purely” on their qualifications and not ethnicity, however he was disappointed. Lye, a former Cacique Crown of Honour awardee and one of the founders of the Electoral Assistance Bureau said: “I was full of expectation that this new Government would have been the first to establish this new political culture. However, I couldn’t help noticing that 80 per cent of the recently announced 35 chairmanship positions to State Boards have been filled by non-Indo-Guyanese,” he stated.

According to Lye, these State Board appointments were preceded by the recent list of national awardees, which causes one to revisit the promise of “inclusivity and promotion of racial unity”. He pointed out that while the Government may not have deliberately set out on such a divisive course, the situation only serves to lend credence to the PPP/C’s pre-election warning of race politics by APNU/AFC.  “Our Government ought to realise that in politics, perception is reality. And whether supporters or not, we need to keep them mindful of that,” he noted.

In addition, another letter writer, Gordon Forte, outlined that of the 35 persons announced as chairs of state-appointed boards, only seven have “Indian-sounding” names. “I find it intensely painful that in my country ? indeed in my world ? qualifications of personal worth and potential contribution have to include racial division, and that responsible people would actually make a count like that,” he declared.

Forte stated that the country’s recent history forces Guyanese to use concepts like inclusiveness and racial unity. He explained “Perceived discrimination on grounds of race seems more offensive to Guyanese than that on grounds of gender, ability or performance record. So I am dragged into a nasty arena, to say to the Cabinet (though we know they’re not listening), “Ow, man, look bad… look so bad…” Moreover, the man said that while many rational arguments can be put forward for the choices made, even idealists have to face up to the degrading nature of the local political environment. He reminded of the power of “filthy racialism” and the long road Guyanese have taken towards its elimination.

Former President and Executive Member of the PPP Donald Ramotar, on Wednesday said that there was no consultation between the present Administration and his Party as it relates to the composition of the various recently announced State Boards. Ramotar, in a telephone interview with Guyana Times acknowledged that the Government has said that it would offer a few seats on specific boards to the PPP. However, the Opposition party is far from satisfied with such actions by the APNU/AFC Government. “When I was the President, we had offered them seats on more Boards in comparison to what they are offering us. There were no consultations this time about the seats being offered to us. We had given them a lot of membership and it is not being reciprocated,” stated Ramotar.

He said that because of the lack of consultation and also the limit to the Boards in which the PPP/C was being given membership, there would be need for talks with the Government. According to Ramotar, he expects this issue to be discussed soon, and it is unclear as to whether the PPP/C will accept the seats that are presently offered to them before the discussions with the Administration take place.