The PPP dynasty will continue

Apr 24, 2011 Letters

---

Dear Editor;
As a former teacher in Guyana and a professional consultant in Canada, I am lucky to witness two worlds.
I have survived a dictatorship in Guyana under Burnham and now living in a country – Canada that exists for over 150 years and next to a country USA that exists for over 200 years. Some countries take different path to democracy, Japan for example had a ruling democracy for 54 years, just changed government two years ago.
Others that come to mind is Mexico and right here in Canada – the province of Ontario had a conservative government for 43 consecutive years. India is a very young democracy and as with any young democracy, corruption and scandals are not unusual.
So where is Guyana today in their history I will provide my thoughts on the upcoming elections. It is not only easily predicable but a continued dynasty is in the making. I will focus on three things “hierarchy of needs”, Opposition leadership and the demise of the AFC.
I do not subscribe to the belief that Indians vote for PPP because of race. I truly believe that the Indian culture have a different “hierarchy of needs” from Blacks and PNC, it is this basis that votes move in the predictable direction. Let me explain, Indians in Guyana have a painful and fearful experience under the PNC regime.
Their top hierarchy of needs is security. No matter who rules, they will survive economically due to strong family structure, support from overseas and the unwavering belief that education is still the best way to prosperity.
They survived under the Burnham dictatorship and some will argue that they may not be thrilled with the PPP policy on jobs, health care and education.
However, on safety and security; for sure PPP is their number one choice. The police may be slow to respond or not at all, but the police will never be sent as part of the government to terrorize, charge and rape those that would not conform to their rule of law.
The PPP makes no apology and will continue to drive that point until it becomes invalid.
It is still hot, just think Lusignan, Bartica and the stunning response from the Opposition to Guyana’s worst tragedy. Not sure how many voters in Guyana will say they are voting for one party because of a superior election platform.
The PNC internal fighting, witnessed by the world in their infamous convention with the main actor Robert Corbin certainly will not attract new members.
The departure of Raphael Trotman earlier certainly did not help either, so who follows the PNC, it is those that are led to the sad belief that if the PNC gets back into power, they will be rewarded “payback” as they did in the Burnham days, when the party was paramount to the government.
What about the AFC?
If you accept the premise that the top hierarchy needs of the Indians in Guyana in security, where does that leave the AFC?
Here is the sad dilemma, the fact that Khemraj Ramjattan will be presidential candidate, a lot of black PNC supporters will go back to their PNC home base. Had it been Trotman, it might have caused some blacks to move from PNC to AFC.
Neither situation is good for AFC; it only brought a big broad smile to the PPP. The AFC was a protest party that did not function as an effective opposition and does not have a strong grassroots base. It is clear that the PPP supporters will not move to the PNC. So why would the PPP supporters not move to AFC either, it is due to a lack of leadership in AFC and in fact, all of the current Opposition parties.
There is no visionary leadership in the opposition in all of Guyana, as long as this vacuum exists; the PPP will remain in power.
Trotman and Ramjattan jump ship instead of showing leadership within their domain, build relationships, influence orders and eventually move to the top. A clear case in history is Obama, do you think if Obama jump from the Democrat and formed his own party, he will survive, no one in Guyana would have heard of him. Ross Perot tried that, he ran as an independent got a stunning 19% of the vote in 1992 but soon faded.
With any young democracy, there are elements of corruption, nepotism, favouritism and incompetence. An independent observer will quickly realise that the Opposition are mere opportunists, their heart is not in it, and I do have a feeling that actually they like it this way, just saying things that keep them in the spotlight, whilst pursuing their own personal capitalist goal. The freedom of the Guyana press, is something I have never seen anywhere in the world.
Guyana is not ready for a change. It will be triggered by a crisis that threatens the country and raise questions on integrity, character and trust of the government. It will be executed when a new visionary leader emerges that unites all, that is opposition and members of the ruling party. More important, the government and the movement will be taken over by intellectuals, people that have no particular political affiliations but simply will join the movement on the fly.
It will happen naturally and is all part of a social cycle that every nation experiences. So until then we may all get used to the PPP.
Varondeo Singh

---

---