Forcing an archaic situation on a young aspirant

Jul 03, 2018 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
I wish to voice my say on a recent piece in your newspaper The Sunday Kaieteur News of July 1, 2018 captioned “I fear no man – Ramson responds to Jagdeo”.
It seems from the article that the former President of Guyana is taking a strong stand against the former Member of Parliament who aspires for a more heightened leadership role within the PPP organization, inasmuch as the former MP found it necessary to discuss fear in that context.
However, according to your article, Mr. Ramson, a Presidential Candidate hopeful for the Upcoming 2020 Elections, has raised the ire of Mr. Jagdeo merely for announcing his intention to win the top post of his Party.
The first question that surfaced in my legal mind was whether Jagdeo falsely claims that his party has traditions concerning who is to be their Presidential candidate for any General and Regional Elections. The second question was whether the retorts of the General Secretary of the Party can emit fear into any high ranking member of the PPP.
Since I think this is a matter of crucial importance to each and every Guyanese, because it hinges on simple things like, inter alia, freedom of speech, freedom to earn a living without being stymied by past laws and traditions, freedom to progress and fulfill one’s desire in future employment in a democratic country, freedom to pursue one’s dream, freedom to enjoy certain inalienable rights granted by birth to any Guyanese in this land of ours by our Creator, etc.,
For an Opposition Leader to publicly state that his party requires “modesty” from its candidate, is really himself as an Opposition Leader being too naïve. The way one dresses and walks in society is a matter dealing with modesty, not the way one talks about one’s career. So, the argument by Mr. Jagdeo about modesty is rubbish!
This seems to me to fit squarely into a thought that comes to mind – that only a totally Communist politician from a trained Soviet academic background would wish to go on record with that position. The important question concerning this ideology is whether Jagdeo is still courting Communism as a recipe for Guyana.
For the General Secretary to say that an aspiring former MP who wishes to pursue the top job in the country and to place Guyana’s political landscape in a higher plane than it is, with his stated desire to serve his country as the President in order to transform Guyana from what he has seen the past ten years in the trenches as a Legislator, is an immodest act, I strongly feel this is an absurd and ludicrous position for a key factor in a Party to take.
I feel that such tradition that our former President speaks of, if it does indeed exist, is to be deemed archaic, and simply not in touch with reality in this day and age, and therefore should be challenged with the full force of whatever means available to do so within a Party Structure, or if needed in a forum that could impact on the “goings on and daily affairs” of that party.
Let us not forget, our world today has been totally transformed. Things that used to happen to citizens the world over five years ago are not happening these days. The pace at which youths and other sectors of our societies are moving are monstrously fast, and Mr. Jagdeo as the General Secretary is attempting to quell the yearnings of our Guyanese people, particularly those who aspire to be future leaders of our beloved country.
I personally take the argument that that the young Ramson may have too large an ego by Jagdeo as rubbish, much less an argument that Ramson’s ego is too much for PPP/C traditions. This is, to my mind, a very shallow, uncanny and pretentious analysis by Mr. Jagdeo to take or to assume of any upcoming Presidential Candidate for his Party.
This matter is smack on with the facts of what transpired in Guyana when Ralph Ramkarran, Gail Teixiera, Clement Rohee and Moses Nagamootoo had each sought the said candidacy. It seems to me that a “Politburo” still exists in PPP politics similar to what obtained with the Soviets in Moscow prior to 1989, which fortunately saw the entire east Bloc leaders being retrenched and totally replaced.
Thus, this matter may be the catalyst that starts the ball rolling to the eradication of the PPP Guyanese version of the “politburo.”
Another question that immediately comes to mind – How can 35 persons dictate the life of Guyana, a country with at least 400,000 electors? This mathematical equation is totally unacceptable and this simply cannot be allowed to happen today in our young country, a fledging and struggling young democratic country.
I therefore urge the young Charles Ramson to “stay the fight” and “do the political dance” even if it means having a war with all political opponents within the Party or those outside it who are sympathetic to the old Order, as the former UNC leader Basdeo Panday from Trinidad and Tobago used to say “Always in politics when you fight, You Fight a War to win!”
I am therefore very pleased to hear that the young Ramson is stating that he’s scared of no man, only the Creator as your Captioned Article does suggest. This is certainly a high ideal.
Now to the realism of Guyanese body politic. I wish to state that party politics are highly partisan to extreme levels. Today, after leaders take Office patronage appointments to their supporters and preferential funding to their Constituents are done.
The 34 persons within the Central Committee who have all been given preferential treatment by the former president, who now holds the crucial position of General Secretary must be fully cognizant that each one of their support is of paramount importance to any individual candidate.
They must make up their minds as honorable people usually do in sane societies the world over. That is my call to each one of those 34 members therein.
Another important issue is that Mr. Jagdeo is not coming to grips with the proposition that a Presidential Candidate ought to have charisma. That seems to be an established ingredient in the personality of a successful country’s president. Whether he himself had charisma was not tested because he was handpicked by his “Colleague Janet” to rule Guyana.
In many Commonwealth countries’ political life, including Guyana, Canada and Australia, being a charismatic party leader, a Leader (and in this case a presidential Candidate hopeful) may well assist a Party to reach great heights because a person is well liked.
In the great USA, Ross Perot who, because he was well liked, received almost one-fifth of American votes. A consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who was well liked by the masses gained more than two million votes.
On the Canadian side is Jack Layton (now deceased) of the New Democratic Party, who formed the Official Opposition in Parliament 7 years ago, due to charisma. Let us not forget the Hollywood star and the “Great Communicator” – Ronald Reagan!
I wish to finally say that a Party’s General Secretary ought to come to grips with the fact that everyone in Guyana wishes to change the lives of Guyanese for the better. As such, if one feels one could do so from the top, then such a Party’s General Secretary ought to encourage that person, not quell his or her desires.
I therefore urge the General Secretary to allow the young Mr. Ramson, to pursue his or her dreams. Who knows what the future holds? That same young Ramson could one day be our country’s president, and take our beloved Guyana to greater and greater heights in the 2020’s.
This young lawyer and legislator Charles Ramson, Jr. reminds me of E.C. Drury, and I wish him well in his long road ahead to becoming our nation’s President, even if that means forming his own Party, on his road to Victory.
M. S. Zafar,
Canadian Lawyer and Notary Public
Former Berbice Criminal Attorney-at-law

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