That search for a Black Prime Minister

Feb 04, 2019 Letters

Dear Editor,
News is circulating that the Opposition PPP is searching for an Afro-Guyanese prime ministerial candidate. I am sure there will be more than a few takers. That is part of Guyana’s enduring sickness: more takers, few givers.
Nonetheless, the opposition has shown itself, time and again, to be masters of the modern science of political cosmetology. In fairness though, there must be recognition of certain facts as they stand.
For starters, the PPP has a history of maintaining what has been a long-running exhibition. It should be congratulated, with considerable room furnished for tokenism and symbolism. The exceptions, in my opinion, were Sam Hinds and Roger Luncheon, who represented not impotent presences.
Truth be told, the Jolly Roger is a sobriquet that fits nicely for the latter, as it was under his strong hand, sometimes tyrannical stance, that the troops were kept in line. In other words, this Afro-Guyanese PPP medicine man was not placeholder, but heavy-duty, high-octane enforcer; he was the one who moved and shook the emptyheaded and hardhearted, and the many with sticky paws.
Looking around, I do not believe for a moment that there is another Afro-Guyanese, who could hold a candle to his precedence and standing; even at half-strength (and in absentia), he is more formidable than anyone, who may come out of the woodwork; and particularly for that sinecure of PM, made so by the leader, who reserves an omnipotent role for himself, far more than before and ever seen around here.
Afro-Guyanese Roger Luncheon had pedigree (political) and credibility with those who counted. In fact, there was only a select group of Indo-Guyanese inside the PPP hemisphere, who could claim such distinction, or were so empowered. All of this was an unmatched plus for the PPP during its time.
The PNC did not-and does not-have his Indo-Guyanese equivalent; Ms. Amna Ally is the closest, but still distant.
Thus, any PPP number two candidate (a ceremonial and backwater office) be him or her Afro-Guyanese or Indo-Guyanese, has huge shoes to fill and is doomed to the indignity of a functional figurehead. That person would have neither power nor prestige not much of a presence; as said earlier, those would be the sole preserve of the big chief, the head commissar.
Of course, the office of PM comes with lots of pageantry and perks, so I do not foresee any shortage of the interested and salivating. It is so much so, that I am raising my own hand right now, as I am sure of some African ancestry. I am serious; I am no Elizabeth Warren. But as the late Derek Jagan once did say in court, “my heart is as black as yours.”
Continuing with this merry business of keeping up appearances (Hyacinth Bouquet of BBC fame would have been proud), it has to be acknowledged that the opposition has done a better job at race marketing than its counterparts in the PNC. It has, more often than not, liberally sprinkled its visible representative ranks with more Afro-Guyanese than the PNC has presented through Indo-Guyanese countenances.
Careful note should be made of that operative word: visible. It is part of the party’s very skillful race propaganda; in the less visible private spaces, it is a different kind of race marketing program, a dreadful one that is executed. Its political peers have proven to be unequal to the task; though they are no slouches themselves in this ancient Guyanese race game.
So, who will it be? It cannot be the Kshatriya, since nobody would mistake him for a Yoruba. The bishop makes nonbelievers of citizens; while the surprising army man could cause many to run for cover. Who is left? Why not Odinga? Now there is a Hausa of sorts. And in view of his own history, that makes for the perfect coalition government, a national front one. As much as I like that, sometimes I am too clever.
Sincerely,
G.H.K. Lall

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