Dear Editor,
The ruling People’s Progressive Party will be holding their biennial congress in August where it is expected the party will narrow down the most likely presidential candidate from among the aspiring hopefuls. It may be one or two from which the party will choose. Current President, Bharrat Jagdeo, is not eligible to run in the 2011 elections. He is currently serving his second consecutive term and the Guyana constitution debars anyone from running for a third term if not amended.
What the PPP should do at its congress is to announce all the interested candidates according to its party rules, and let them go out across the length and breadth of Guyana and campaign. They can campaign on their plans and policies that they will implement should they be picked by the party. This would depend on their popularity among the voting population, especially the voting Indo-Guyanese who have always supported the party for its victories in the 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2006 elections.
The PPP must not pick its presidential candidate and impose him/her on the people. Any presidential candidate must win the support of the masses with his/her programmes and policies.
After the death of Dr Jagan in office in 1997 the party picked his wife, Janet Jagan, who was not given a ministerial post after the party victory in 1992 due to her health. Yet she was made the presidential candidate and went on to win the elections. However she was popular in the party and was with Dr Jagan from the beginning.
The surprise for the 2001 election was Bharrat Jagdeo, unknown up to 1992 after which he became a minister in the Ministry of Finance. He later replaced senior Finance Minister Asgar Ally after he was sacked by Dr Jagan. Bharrat Jagdeo was the party’s choice. He went on to win both the 2001 and 2006 elections.
This must not be the case for 2011 elections. The chosen candidate for the 2011 elections must justify his/her selection. This can be done by a popular campaign as happens in the United States of America.
Yours faithfully,
Baldeo Persaud
I AGREE WITH YOU, THIS SHOULD BE DONE WITH ALL OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES IN GUYANA.
So, ayo banas wah mo circus, eh?
I have written about this several times. A few times to the letter column of SN and KN. And tried arguing the point on a Guyanese BB.
The present system of choosing our leaders does not involve the publics participation. The system that exists among all the political parties- the choice is made by a few and imposed upon the nation.
This method does not reflect on the political maturity of Guyanese.
The last two elections, I had written to ACDA to promote a forum whereby all Presidential Candiadtes, those from the political parties and those who wished to contest the elections as Independents to publicly state the plans for all Guyana.
We are a politically segregated country and the electorate only pays attention to the party they assumed represents their ethnicity.
We need to find the system that makes our people listen to all with the hope, that ballots are cast with an open mind rather than on ethnic preferences.
We must seek out ways to free us from the great distrust among us.
I believe in this approach.
..monkey see monkey do…
Guyana indeed needs a surprise new political party to rule its people.
Another party! For what?
The PNC chooses its leader at its congress… remember what happened last time? I’m no expert, but the entire political system seems to need an overhaul.
Makes no difference. It will be an ethnic referandum as usual.
Well as limited as the process is in Guyana, it is actually the best system for Guyana. The U.S have primaries but also electoral college, which means not every vote counts even in the primaries of the Democratic and Republican parties. I don’t want to get into too much with the flaws of representative democracy.
In Guyana we choose a political party, based on a political ideology (you can disagree with the ideology part but not the party part). If the AFC, PNC or PPP wants to hold a primary they can, the same way the DNC and the RNC hold primaries based on the individual party rules. The fact that a primary in Guyana would not be cost effective, especially since there would have to be “super-delegates” to give the party insiders a voice (not until the American system).
As far fetch as this might seems, primaries makes political parties less accountable because it turn the election into individual based votes rather than party based votes. The last thing we need in Guyana is less accountability.
The political system in Guyana is a very good system, what we need is a change in the attitudes of our people and elected officers with respect for the law.
You will wake up one morning in 2011 and find out who the Presidential candidate is.
Now the question that should be asked. Does it matter who the presidential candidates are? If Corbin was the PPP candidate and Jagdeo is the the PNC candidate, would that matter? The political ideology would trump the candidates personal agenda. I am confident if Corbin was the head of the PPP, the PPP would still win a general election in Guyana not because the people believe in Corbin, but because the people believe in the PPP to govern.
All I hope is that we get better leadership in the next person to be head of the party and to put all Guyana’s best interest first.
I agree with that Its the PNC or PPP. It does not matter who is the leader. Remember Asgar Ali and Hamilton Green? What did they get?
If Asgar was the leader of the PPP then he would have been the president.