The real PPP must be very careful in choosing their next leader

Oct 14, 2009 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
Thank you Malcolm Harripaul. Your letter captioned, “The Great Leader Bharrat ‘Kim Il Sung’ Jagdeo” in the Kaieteur News of September 27th, 2009 captured the reality in Guyana today quite succinctly.
This letter was a clear reminder of the methodology the PR machinery in Office of the President is using to pull blinkers over the people’s eyes.  What kind of leader would be out to save the world and he cannot take care of his own people’s problems at home?  The UNDP now estimates 126,000 of our people at home are living on less than G$400 a day. Yet our dear ‘great leader’ is more focused on climate change than with dealing with the bread and butter issues at home?
Climate change does not put food on the table for the poor in Guyana. Job creation will, creating access to opportunities will, initiating access to productive activities will, but more and more I am finding lethargy in the formulation of positive proactive public policy to stimulate any measures to do what is right to improve the welfare of the masses more aggressively.
It was Matthew Price, the 18th century political leader who stated, “A king is responsible for the care of his people”, but in Guyana, it is a nation and a people that are funding the fantasy of a President.
Why does this situation exist? When we peel away at this question, the right thinking person would realise, the truth behind this type of irresponsible behaviour. Now that the PPP has made it clear that there will be no third term for any individual as a PPP Presidential Candidate, it is a race against time to secure a job for oneself internationally.  However, what if the Committee for the Re-election of Jagdeo (CRJ) has a plan to force the Elections Commission into a plebiscite for a third term?  Can they do it without the real PPP? Can they do it with the PNCR as a partner?
Why do I say this? In current day Guyana, every Tom, Dick and Beharry are exposed to the wrath of the maximum leader vindictiveness, yet the PNC, especially its leader, continues to enjoy a special love from the maximum leader.  Why is Mr. Corbin so favourably treated by the maximum leader?  We were always told that it is the PNCR that will hand out the guns when they get into Government, but there seems to be some strange machination to cuddle up to the PNCR. The PNCR may very well end up in the next Government with Jagdeo, so I ask the question, who will hand out the guns then?  Such an unholy alliance has only one predictable outcome, greater poverty for more of my people.
As the people lock into this truth, the PR machinery at the Office of the President is forced into action so that they can shift the attitude of the traditional supporters to an idea of a CRJ/PNC coalition.  Attempts will be made to manufacture untruths into truths and this will not be the first time. So what Randy Persaud is doing today, we have been there done that.
Do we remember the official policy of the Office of the President in 2006 whereby the maximum leader withdrew the placement of advertisements with SN? In 2006, the pretext was an allegation that SN had limited circulation and limited reach.  Fast forward to 2009 and the mantra today is to share out the advertisement to as many newspapers as possible, especially to that private newspaper with the least circulation and reach.
It is alleged that the maximum leader is now placing advertisement in this private low circulation newspaper so that it can be distributed free of cost in certain hinterland villages to position his candidacy among the Amerindians.
In just a matter of three years, an untruth was manufactured into a truth because the maximum leader has to take care of friends and family at the expense of the taxpayers and use these freely distributed papers to attempt to shift the attitude of the people in his favour.
As part of that wider plan, the PPP itself can possibly be at the receiving end of the maximum leader’s venom. This is the quality of politics we have in Guyana, it is not about the people anymore, and it is about one individual breaking all the rules to stay in power, come what may.
Guyanese must be aware of these plans since they can set a precedence that will permanently burn our democratic credentials. Guyana has a leadership today that offers no consistency, no ethics, no principles, but just plain and rabid hypocrisy and abuse of that democracy we all won with Dr. Jagan in 1992.
This unbridled use of power has now commandeered the weak into total submission.  Most of our private sector, our labour movement, and our religious organisations have all become obsequious, craven and servile.  The few men of metal like Yesu Persaud are “cussed out” publicly at every conceivable occasion so that they can be mentally beaten into submission. How can our dream of the dawn of a new era degenerate into this state of prevarication where nothing coming out of the leader’s mouth can be believed anymore?
Why are we in such a state where the office holder does not have the basic decency to respect the traditions of one’s high office and exercise its powers judiciously, and wisely?
This abuse of this office has led an overwhelming majority of the people to privately distrust and abhor the maximum leader’s actions, but in public, they exhibit a great tolerance out of fear and at the end of the day people must survive.
This puts the maximum leader at a great disadvantage since he will never know the abhorrence of the people for his regime and thus continues to mismanage and mislead Guyana. This is the principle reason for the sorry state Guyana is in today.
However, the real PPP and the AFC have to come to Guyana’s rescue. Cde Ramotar was quite clear publicly on this third term issue and the AFC has come on the scene as a force of conscious that will resist this “cabal of evil” behind the CRJ.  If it was not for these two variables in the equation, Guyana was doomed. As Dewali approach we must remind ourselves that good always overcome evil.
Nevertheless, we must never let our guards down because the “cabal of evil” can always find some mechanism to impose their way on the people and vigilance is the name of the game.  I call on all law-abiding citizens, especially the members of the Elections Commission to steadfastly do your job as mandated by the constitution and to not fast-forward any election to the whims and fancy of any one individual.  Your allegiance is to the constitution, not any individual. You will get a “cuss down”, ala Mahaica market style, but please revisit your terms of reference, review your role as outlined by the Constitution and hold steadfast to those guidelines.
Chairman Surujbally, no President can fire you unless you violate terms as clearly set out in the Constitution.  So let them “cuss out” all they want, that is irrelevant to the wider scheme of things. What is important is that you stay focused on delivering a free and fair General Election for Guyana come 2011.
I never though the day would arrive after the dawn of the new era in 1992, when so many of my people would be so poor and Dr. Jagan’s passion to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich would become horse food in the mind of the current maximum leader.
I was under the impression in 1992 that we were going in a different direction by reducing the gap between the rich and the poor and making the country’s wealth pie larger so that there will be more for all, not only the select few.
But then again, I expected too much from Bharat Jagdeo. I did not expect him to be this intellectually timid. I did not expect him to lack the political imagination to exploit Guyana’s unique position as the bridge between CARICOM and South America for the betterment of our people. I was wrong but it is not too late to correct our errors.
Unfortunately, Guyana has paid a heavy price for this political adventurism and the real PPP must be very careful in choosing their next leader.  That person must be someone of pedigree, not a political pick-up from under the coconut tree.
That person must truly understand and be willing to implement Dr. Jagan’s vision for a better Guyana, not someone who is only focused on themselves and is not committed to improving the welfare of the masses.
That person must be from the old school that have walked the trenches with Dr. Jagan and feel the Jagan passion for the people’s welfare.
The next elections can be very interesting since the AFC will be a formidable force, but as it stands now, they will be the second largest political force in Guyana.
The PPP must choose one of the good people in the party to be their Presidential Candidate (a Benn, or a Ramotar or a Ramkarran or a Nagamootoo).
Even though the AFC may not win the largest chunk of votes, (I still believe that is reserved for the real PPP) I think their chances to be king maker by being the second largest political force is reasons to be hopeful for Guyana.
But then again everyone has his or her price and the CRJ has no shortage of money, so do not discount a CRJ/PNC coalition. Interesting time.
Sasenarine Singh

---

---