Where Ramotar has failed is in addressing the declining support for his party

Oct 07, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I agree with Mayor Hamilton Green (KN Oct 3) that President Donald Ramotar is not taking effective actions to cleanse the Augean stables. But I disagree with Mr. Green on the definition of the “stables” and which parts need to be cleaned. For example, parties generally reward their supporters as the PNC did.  So there is nothing wrong in Merle Udho’s appointment as Ambassador to Brazil. Where Ramotar has failed is in addressing the declining support for his party.  And unless, he takes actions quickly, he could very well see himself out of office come next election.
The President clearly needs to implement changes in order to show he is his own man and to break from the errors of the past. Many people are querying what is holding back Donald from pursuing policies that will strengthen his position and the ruling party’s and by extension provide better governance to the nation.
The PPP administration has entered into a self destructive mode as Annan Boodram eloquently stated in a recent missive. The party is engaging in acts of suicide ideation and political psychologists are not coming forward to offer wise counsel to save it. And even Donald himself is not showing any interest that he wants to save the party or have a second term as President.
Party supporters complain that the PPP has been making too many mistakes in recent years, alienating itself from its base and have been ignored. Unless corrective actions are taken by President Ramotar, he is likely to take his party to the opposition benches sooner rather than later. Ramotar has a once in a lifetime opportunity to fix the great party founded by Cheddi and Janet Jagan (and others).
Unless he does the right things (cleansing the party and the government) he would be condemned to a mere footnote or a tiny appendix in PPP history. He will either be known as the person who redeemed and saved the PPP or the last President and General Secretary who buried it.
I traveled all over the country last July interviewing people for a NACTA opinion poll. Party supporters are still angry with the PPP for neglecting them in recent years and are looking forward for party reform and change in governance.  People are also angry with APNU (PNC) and AFC and they also need to take corrective measures. But the failure of the PPP leadership to address their complaints disappoint rank and file supporters the most.
As Boodram intoned, it seems that neither President Ramotar nor the PPP leadership seems to have any inkling of what is happening on the ground among their grass root base.  People have simply drifted away from the party tending to their own business. People told me that they have become disappointed with the style of governance, the arrogance of some of the Ministers and M.Ps and the neglect of the base.
They told me and interviewers of my poll that are fed up of empty promises and inadequate services while at the same time complaining that a few are enriching themselves at the expense of the working class. They also complained that for some inexplicable reason discredited figures are promoted instead of being demoted and that the party has been sending the same discredited politicians (from previous years) to meet with them. People said they would not show up at meetings because they don’t want to deal with the same party activists or regional Councillors or Chairmen who let them down.
They also complained there have been virtually no actions to their complaints or list of problems in their community. In short, the PPP appears not to have learned anything from last November debacle; the leadership has buried its head in the sand. It expects different results by the doing the same thing. The party has to recruit prominent honest community individuals who command the respect and attention of the base. Many activists and local government officials who canvassed for the party in the recent past have virtually no respect among traditional supporters.
They can’t win over anyone, not even their own relatives and they are giving Ramotar basket to fetch water.—misleading him and former President Bharrat Jagdeo about what is happening on the ground. People are turned off by the nonchalant manner in which the Ralph Ramkarran’s resignation was handled.
As Boodram stated, Ramotar should have rejected the resignation immediately and brought him back quickly and be given a mandate to run the party while Donald runs the government or some kind of position to tame corruption.  People see him as one of a few distinguished stalwarts with credibility remaining in the party. By alienating and forcing him out, the party has alienated and pushed away a lot of its supporters.
In addition to bringing back Ramkarran, the party needs to attract credible individuals into its central committee and executive committee and to the Civic component; there are some in both committees who are despised among rank and file supporters causing people not to go to community bottom house meetings. Ramotar needs to clean house and to do so urgently.  Otherwise the party will not do any better come next election and in fact could very well find itself in the opposition if the PNC can reach across to those who it alienated during its 28 years misrule. People are not so much attracted to the PPP as they are turned off by the PNC and the AFC’s association with it.
People rattled off complaints about the PNC (APNU) and the AFC saying both blew golden opportunities (especially over their handling of the budget) to expand their support and send the PPP to the opposition next election. In particular, former PPP supporters who voted AFC are angry that the party has closely allied itself with the PNC and not pursuing legislation that would.
Sugar workers, in particular, complained that the AFC has failed to take up their cause.  Instead of embracing those who are disenchanted with the PPP, the PNC and AFC pushed them away.
Mr. David Granger, for example, has not been able to win over former PPP supporters and has even turned off traditional PNC supporters with some of his statements especially the one that there are no founding fathers (or mothers) of the nation. Many say the AFC has shown it is not much different from the other two behemoths that have dominated the political landscape.
They want the AFC to take up legislations to empower the people and weaken the powers of the executive and the parliament and to hold the government more accountable. The AFC has to show it is truly independent of the PNC or else it will continue to lose former PPP supporters with the beneficiary being the PPP not because they are attracted to that party but because they don’t want the PNC to return to office. They see the latter as experiencing difficulty in avoiding a repeat of the mistakes of the past and in pursuing policies to win them over.
As Boodram noted, all three parties are in a downward spiral but for different reasons and they need to take stock of their problems or people will become more disillusioned with them and simply move away from politics. Donald knows what is wrong with his party.  The question is whether he has the courage to say it to his party and execute the solutions necessary to save it.
Vishnu Bisram

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