Why should governorship of a territory be done by outsiders and not insiders?

Feb 24, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I refer to the published letter (Kaieteur News 22-02-11) captioned, “Kissoon and his anti- non-resident stance” by someone who gave his name as Brandon Samaroo. I take it that there is a real person by that name.
It is asinine to the point of utmost stupidity for any person to compare the right to vote for overseas Indians and Americans on the one hand, and Guyanese on the other. India’s numbers are 1.1 billion of which less than two percent are resident in other countries. The US is 307 million of which less than point nine percent live outside the US. In comparison there are more people outside of Guyana that can vote than those resident inside the territory.
You can have the Faustian reality where Guyana’s Government can be elected by non-resident Guyanese. Those who live here will never accept that. I repeat will never accept that. In such a peculiar situation, the situation is philosophically untenable. Why should governorship of a territory be done by outsiders and not insiders? In any referendum, the vote for overseas Guyanese will be defeated.
Brendon Samaroo should familiarise himself more with the immigration laws of the country he chose to live. His ignorance may cause him to be sent back to Guyana and I doubt the Brendon Samaroos of this world want to come back and live here. In the US a green card holder cannot be outside of the jurisdiction for 365 consecutive days, when that is done, the validity of the green card lapses.
The object of offering the green card is to allow people to be resident in the US. The US is simply saying why should we give you a residency permit if you do not want to live here? All I am saying is if you want to vote in Guyana then you should be domiciled in the country. Canada now has self-sponsorship and you cannot collect the permit and stay outside of Canada
Mr. Samaroo needs to familiarise himself with some elementary principles of politics one of which is realpolitik. When Ralph Ramkarran raised the question of overseas voting he had in mind an advantage for the PPP. When Raphael Trotman did the same, he was speaking to the Diaspora whose funds he was soliciting. There is something called context and Samaroo needs to acquaint himself with it instead of writing constant nonsense from New York, but then again we here in Guyana have to take quite a lot of nonsense from those overseas who aren’t coming back
Samaroo has a lot of learning to do. He lives in a place in the US where books are perhaps available in more supply than any other country. He should read what an existentialist choice means. It means that essentially we make decisions on our own volition and no person or circumstances force us. Human beings tend to excuse their voluntary decisions by citing conditions beyond their control. Philosophically we make our own decisions, but we justify our opportunism by citing invisible coercion. Millions leave their homelands constantly. Millions choose to stay. That is the choice we make. If you decide to part with Guyana, that is your right but do not claim you couldn’t help yourself and you still want to share in what Guyana has to offer. Life is not that simple. It will never be that simple
What appalling idiocy can come from the pen of a person? Samaroo tells me that if I go on the wharf, I will see the barrels that are coming in for Guyanese. A man in New York telling me what I should observe in my own country. But more importantly what have those barrels got to do with the right of expatriate Guyanese to vote? The answer is nothing. Only a fool will see a connection. I know thousands of Guyanese that never received a barrel and will never receive a barrel. I still cannot understand this foolishness of Samaroo. All over the world, human beings send stuff back for loved ones. This is a private matter. What has that got to do with the policies and policy-making of a government?
Samaroo cites remittances. Remittances are private transaction between people. It is like love. You choose to give love to who you want to. Since replying to Raphael Trotman about the importance of remittances to the population of Guyana, I haven’t got an offer of a new car from anyone in the Diaspora. I can tell Samaroo if we are going to give the vote to the Diaspora because of remittances then I am going to start collecting names of Guyanese who are living here and who have genuine needs.
From Monday to Friday, at the junction of Vlissengen Road and Lamaha Street, I gave a $100 to a person who is physically challenged. There are times he collect $200 a day because my kid stops and give too. Hope the Diaspora is reading this. My car hasn’t come as yet so it seems to me that remittances are more personal than impersonal! What is the relation between the Christmas toys John from the US gave to his relatives in Berbice and the right to vote? There are Republican politicians in Congress who are discomforted by the huge amount of remittances from the US to the Third World. They want to clamp down on it. They say it is hurting the American economy
This Samaroo is really an irritatingly foolish fellow. He tells me that the Diaspora is involved in pushing Western Government on democracy issues here. The PPP has been in power for 19 years, has exceeded the cruelties of the Burnham Government and is one of the most corrupt regimes in the world and we hear how help is coming from the Diaspora. Finally, Samaroo writes; “So for Mr. Kissoon to tell us that we don’t have a say in how Guyana is governed you know what I will say to him.” Let me say to you Samaroo. I never heard about you. My country never heard about you. I know of no contribution you have made to my country which is dirt poor and getting poorer. You are not living in this country and you have no right to decide how it is to be governed. The Guyanese people in Guyana will never give you that right. Come back and do the decent thing – live in Guyana. Hey! I forgot! Can you teach mathematics?
Frederick Kissoon

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