Election 2001: Ram, Roopnarine or a woman?

Jun 21, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

A national election is a unique thing not in sociological or political terms but in the realm of psychology. To understand why one candidate wins over another has just as much to do with the psychology of the voter as with the contestant. A very junior senator, Barack Obama, won the American presidential election more out of the psychological maelstrom that was sweeping the US than with his charisma.
Obama’s main rival from the right was a man associated with an unpopular war and a disliked president. His competitor from the centre was Mrs. Hilary Clinton who was seen as a figure from the past. Young Americans were relentlessly looking for something new amidst the chaos of a weak economy and a grueling war. No matter how effusive was his charisma and no matter how much money he raised through social networking, if there wasn’t the dent in the American psyche at the time, Obama would not have won.
Each country has its own peculiarities and they show up vividly during election time. No more graphic testimony of this is the near victory of Carl Greenidge in securing the PNC nomination.
Compare Basil Williams and Greenidge and most Guyanese will tell you that prior to 2001, they didn’t know who Greenidge was. This was because he left Guyana a long time ago. Williams, on the other hand, is a high profile lawyer and a long serving PNC leader. Williams was badly beaten by both Greenidge and David Granger. The reason is because there is the psychological search among Guyanese for a fresh face.
The rumour mill has it that the Joint Opposition Political Parties (JOPP) will choose Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine as its PM candidate. If that is intended before the decision is made, it should be accompanied by prodigious refection with extensive advice sought from political friends.
Guyana is a territory morbidly divided along ethnic lines. It would be an act of extreme shortsightedness for the JOPP to go with the two top names being African. It is not a workable strategy even though it is a morally horrible thought to think in terms of ethnic choices.
JOPP’s first preference should be a woman. The PPP is going to go with a woman. That will leave the JOPP out in the cold because the AFC has gone in that direction. The JOPP should start looking for a vibrant non-African woman candidate. If one cannot be found, then it should turn to a study of the present psychology of the Guyanese people. That would assist them in coming to their judgement.
Is Dr. Roopnaraine the relevant choice at this time given the social nihilism sweeping the country? Dr Roopnaraine is one of the finest intellects in Guyana. His public delivery is outstanding and will get voters to listen to him. Dr Roopnaraine is also an historic figure. He played a huge role as freedom fighter in the seventies and eighties.
Unfortunately this is not Dr. Roopnaraine’s time. Unfortunately, his “vogue” may have passed. And it may have gone by for one fundamental reason – the modern Guyanese voter wants a new face. The fault is not Roopnaraine’s but the seventy percent of the Guyanese that is under 35 years of age.
One caveat is in order. It is not the age of the person. It is the newness or “suddenness” of the personality. Someone like Christopher Ram is of the same age as Dr Roopnaraine but Ram is of a vintage brand than the WPA stalwart. I can think of Ram as one of the names that the JOPP should consider.
Ram over the past three years has emerged as one of the fiercest human rights critics of the Jagdeo regime. He is constantly in the news not to mention a few confrontations with the President himself.
The simple point is that the young generation knows Ram more than they know Roopnaraine. Young people and the mature categories are familiar with his politics more than Roopnaraine’s.
However unpalatable that may be to those who recognize the historical role of Rupert Roopnaraine and his strong intellect, the reality is that we have reached a psychological stage in Guyana where the population wants a brand that they consider is fresh and more known.
Even if the JOPP does not bring Ram onto their radar, the deciders in the JOPP need to think long and hard about their choices and look in the direction of an East Indian that would gel with the reality on the ground. This election will be the most historic in the country’s history a fatal mistake will bring tragedy to the entire opposition.

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Election 2001: Ram, Roopnarine or a woman?

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