I am a political campaign issue

Oct 09, 2011 Features / Columnists, My Column

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Within hours, or at least days, we are going to hear of the date for Elections 2011. It has been five years since the last one and once more we must prepare to trek to the polls to decide who will lead the country for another five years.
People always viewed elections as something of a carnival event. They allowed people to talk about things that they would rather be silent about; they actually brought people together and lined them up like armies, one against the other. People came out of the woodwork to challenge for the right to lead the people and of course, some provided comic relief.
The campaigners used every forum to get their message across. Some got a soap box and used it as a platform. Without public address they could not sell much. They became hoarse and needed a few days off. Others used loudhailers and still others used the more sophisticated public address systems.
The hard work was in the house-to-house campaigns. People got visits from just about every political party, the campaign staff promising the moon. People took out their books and made notes. The fun thing was that there were people who promised every party that visited the home that it had their vote. And so it was that parties concluded that they had a certain percentage of the vote.
Young people found the campaign fun. They would gather all the rotten eggs they could find and they used the speakers for target practice. Many a speaker went home smelling to high heavens and vowing to note the areas where the campaigns were most likely to be targeted with stones and rotten eggs.
In the days before television, people relied on posters and pamphlets. They also relied on the speakers on the platforms. Tantalise was the order of the day and the speakers were not lacking in wit. They hurled invectives at their opponents, coined names for them—no name complimentary—and fashioned stories about each opponent because everyone knew everybody’s business.
People in the crowd got involved and heckled the speakers. They knew just what to do to get the speakers angry. I remember at a public meeting on the Essequibo there was a speaker named Zaheerudeen. His nickname was Crapaud. He indeed had a funny shape that was reminiscent of a crapaud. He got on the stage and he began to talk about the developments.
Out of the blue came a voice. “Crapaud.” And it came at some funny times in the speech. The speaker eventually lost it, so when the speaker shouted “Crapaud” again, Zaheerudeen retorted in full hearing of the public and the police, “You Mudda Sk…” The crowd broke into hysterical laughter. Zaheerudeen could not speak another word that night.
The situation followed him all along the Essequibo Coast.
These days things have changed. The campaign is more sophisticated. There are still the street corner meetings, and at times, the stones aimed at speakers. There are more police ranks about to ensure protection for speakers and more banners and posters than a house at Christmastime.
What is missing is the number of public meetings. The various political parties have gone electronic. I cannot remember ever seeing so many political articles and campaign slogans in my internet mailbox than at this time. The various political parties are using every social media, not that this would make an impact on the older folk.
It is the young people who always make a difference. They are the ones whose vote would make the difference. Unfortunately, not too many of them seem interested in the vote. They like the fun and that is why the political parties organize stage shows with artistes and music. In fact, they fool the various political parties into thinking that they have the crowd.
Tonight, for example, the ruling party is going to be in Kitty. Last week it was at Albion. I would have believed that by now the hottest topic would have been the campaign message. Instead, it is about the size of the crowd. Reporters put the crowd at somewhere between five thousand and seven thousand, the political party puts it at somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000.
So, tonight is going to be another numbers game. The national stadium has a capacity for 18,000, the National Park holds about 20,000. I have seen the problem moving about when those people are leaving. There was no such problem at Albion but then again, perhaps people “does small up demself” when they go to political meetings so more of them can hold in a small space.
I expect to be a campaign issue once more. I was at Albion, just as I was at John Ford Car Park back in 1992. In 1992, Dr Cheddi Jagan announced that when he got into office my head would be the first one to roll. I am not sure how I became such a prominent target. It must be because I write pieces critical of those who promise the stars and fail to deliver the moon; critical of those who do nothing but puff their chests and strut. Perhaps, it is because of my success as a reporter.
These days I work at Kaieteur News, the newspaper that disappears off the stands as soon as it lands. That was a campaign issue at Albion. No other reporter was mentioned. So I shall be mentioned again tonight.
My boss would also be mentioned. I know that he has been the one to target what he perceived as corruption in the system, much to the anger of the decision-makers. The source of his wealth is going to come into question. Strangely enough, there will be no question of the wealth of people close to the government and ruling party.
The strange thing is that neither of us is running for political office.

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