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If he enters politics, he will easily get lost in translation

Jun 11, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
From reading Freddie Kissoon, you know that he is a well-informed person, more a product of Western culture than his own Eastern origins. He is well versed with Western culture, picking out and regurgitating the contents of any Western philosopher or Western writer or Western movie at random. I am quite sure Freddie is familiar with the movie, Lost in Translation
Things and emotions and truths and identities can easily get lost in translation. This is certain to happen to Freddie should he take that step into official election politics. I heard the rum shop chat, the conversations in certain circles and the newspaper letter pages are all about the coming of a third political party. And Freddie’s name seems to be the one that is like a stuck record. From where I sit, I see the necessity of a third party. Strange enough the person who has convinced me of that is Freddie himself. His assessments of the faults and sins of the Alliance for Change are brilliant. His exposure of the vision of the PNC is equally so.
I agree with Peeping Tom. The third party will not win or have large numbers of seats but will hold the balance of power. So it looks like in 2020, the third party will either support the PNC or the PPP because one of the two will win the plurality votes but not the majority. Whoever leads the third party, I believe Freddie should not participate. He will not be seen as the person that this country views him now – a Don Quixote, brave, patriotic and idealistic after the election results.
But more important, Mr. Editor, Freddie might lose his soul in the translation from philosophy to politics. He will get lost in translation. The electorate is always underestimated by politicians. People may love and admire Freddie Kissoon but who says they will vote for him to lead Guyana. I don’t think so. People have images of who they want to be in government. People put their heroes in nice little compartments and they want them to stay there because they feel if they come out of that box, they will not be who they are and people are fearful that they will lose their love for them.
I am sure that at any point in his career and after, Sachin Tendulkar would not have become the Prime Minister of India. If Sachin had ran for the Congress Party against Modi, he would have lost. India adores Sachin but as a hero not as a politician. In voting they would have said we love you Sachin but let Modi run the country, he knows how to do that better than you. It would have been the same result in Trinidad with Brian Lara.
If Lara tries his hand in his own political party, he will not win. Bolt or Gayle attempting the similar thing in Jamaica will have the same result. People want their heroes to stay in their own league especially when it comes to politics.
All this talk about a third party with Freddie Kissoon and Nigel Hughes at the helm will not materialize with respect to Freddie being the presidential candidate. Yes, I see and I guess everybody else does, that Nigel Hughes fits the bill. I believe people see Nigel Hughes as making a good president. They do not see Freddie in the same way. For them this is a philosophical dreamer with an idealistic mind that wants to save Guyana. They like him on that stage. If he comes off that stage, he will get lost in translation.
Would I vote for a third party? The answer is yes but I would not vote for Freddie Kissoon as a politician. I would vote for Freddie to be declared a national hero. But not to lead Guyana, not to be a Minister not to be in Parliament. The Freddie Kissoon that we know would be a different person that may lose our admiration. Freddie himself will lose his credibility I don’t think he will get the votes those letter-writers think he will.
I do see a third party coming and while I share Peeping Tom’s opinion that it will hold the balance of power I do not agree that it will not get large amount of votes. The time is ripe for a challenge to the big two. A third party may not win a majority or the plurality but it will do much better than the Alliance for Change. Please remember the AFC did not win twelve seats; it was given those. A third party will do better.
V.V. Singh

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