Johnson and Lam: The choice does not have to be PPP or PNC

Feb 18, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

For those who claim that they are nationalist, are for workers’ rights, a multi-racial Guyana, against one–party domination, and want far-reaching, constitutional changes, the no-confidence story has exposed how old they are in their thinking, and that deep inside their Freudian soul, they support ethnic politics, ethnic-dominated government and are nationalistic frauds.
This social activist is saying with pellucid forcefulness – there has to be one of two things after the March 2020 election – a displacement of the PNC or PPP by a third force that has a majority or has won the plurality. I don’t believe even for a fleeting moment this will happen. Guyana will have either a Granger presidency or an Ali victory.
The second possibility is a minority government of either PNC or PPP, with relentless demands by the third sector in parliament to force the minority government into societal accommodation, where policies and pursuits cannot be done as if they won a majority. There must be acceptance of budget inputs from other constituencies far and wide in Guyana.
There must be immediate constitutional dialogue with demands for changes that have to incorporate fundamental democratic directions. I can think of the immediate removal of the Carter formula, the urgent removal of the clause that prevents post-election coalition, the diminution of presidential powers.
There are those who have been around a long time, actively engaged in political struggle, and since the no-confidence motion (NCM), they are now seeing Guyana as PPP versus PNC. No longer are they seeking power-sharing or an arrangement whereby we can have a system that does not allow for ethnic and political hegemony.
These people who have been around a long time have suddenly discovered that one of the two leviathans is preferable to the other. Suddenly, the ethnic-oriented PPP is no longer steeped in old political culture. Suddenly the PNC is not ethnic-oriented and steeped in old political culture. Is it possible that we are witnessing the crystallisation of the Freudian mind in those over 55 years of age and now that the NCM made a dramatic entry, they have put their Freudian secrets on public display?
These old Freudian creatures have generated a philosophical need of an exigent nature for the younger generation to replace the PPP and the PNC, and their over-55 Freudian embracers.
Some in that generation have stepped forward. Names like Ruel Johnson and Rhonda Lam on The Citizenship Initiative, Dr. Asha Kissoon (no relation) of The New Movement and the overwhelming number of young politicians in the Liberal and Justice Party, Change Guyana, and ANUG.
Did it come as a surprise to Guyanese that the public declaration of donations came from the younger generation? It was The Citizenship Initiative that has publicly announced how much funds they have received to date, and how it was spent so far.
I was on Kaieteur Radio sharing a panel with Rhonda Lam, presidential candidate of The Citizenship Initiative, and she made reference to the conscience vote of Charran. When she said that, I felt the windows of the studio open up and a gush of fresh breeze fumigated Guyana.
It is obnoxiously appalling that some of these over-55 citizens, who have seen the PPP and the PNC alternating government and within that cycle, stagnation, pessimism, hopeless and autocracy reign, could be shouting for a majority victory for the PPP or the PNC. Are they doing that because of race? It is hard to tell, unless they openly say so, but we know their Freudian minds.
This election is a contest between the traditional two big rivals, the outcome of which would continue to see excluding governance, ethnic-based governance, and neoliberal, reckless spending that hurts the future lives of a majority of young Guyanese.
The theory that the PPP’s autocracy was longer, sharper and more poisonous than the five-year domination of APNU+AFC, therefore the latter needs to be given more time is pathetic, miasmic nonsense. What Guyanese need is not more of the PPP and an extension of the tenure of APNU+AFC. They have not governed democratically. They have not governed in the interest of all Guyanese.
Half of the nation resents when one of the other is in power. This country has a population in which over seventy percent is under 40 years of age. These young people owe it to the world, not only Guyana, to save the future of this helpless, hapless land. As an older Guyanese, I appeal to them – vote for the future, vote for the younger generation that has no place in their heart for race thinking.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)