Dear Editor,
I refer to your article ‘Search for PPP candidate still in initial phase,’ dated July 4.

The looming battle in the PPP for a suitable presidential candidate for the 2011 general election will create a decisive split in the leadership of the party, as the rank and file membership becomes more and more alienated from the party and the Jagdeo regime.

When all is said and done, the essential question must be the future of Guyana as a nation state, and not the PPP. Guyana must come first in any move we make as individuals and groups of individuals. We must bury our personal interest in favour of our patriotic duty for the betterment of all Guyanese.

The movement for change is sweeping South America and the world in general, and Guyana will inevitably be part of these changes. Things will never be the same again in Guyana. Those who are looking carefully can see movements taking place and whoever is not deaf can hear the chattering loud and clear. Guyanese, here and abroad are doing everything necessary to effect this fundamental change, and the changes will not be determined by the PPP or any other political party for that matter. There is a level of unity that is developing at the grassroots level that will have a momentum of its own, and no force on earth can stop it. There is currently a loose movement working towards a radical and progressive programme for action that will benefit all Guyanese, particularly those who have been left out by the Jagdeo regime.

Ralph Ramkarran and Moses Nagamootoo are credible PPP leaders, and must be part of the widest possible coalition force to work towards a common programme of action agreeable to most Guyanese. They must work now for the complete democratization of the PPP as a political party, or face the demise of an organisation that has been in existence for more than 50 years.

The PPP’s undemocratic structure and method of functioning, based on the archaic concept of democratic centralism must be radically reformed to suit a world that is open and relatively democratic. We no longer live in the dark days of the Czarist dictatorship as Lenin did, and we do not need these tight party controls, as exhibited by the Russian Communist party prior to the Russian Revolution.

Moses Nagamootoo and Ralph Ramkarran must challenge the status quo in the PPP and rally the most conscious workers and progressive section of the party to their cause. It is a make or break period for both of them. They can no longer sit on the sidelines; they must be outspoken and win the hearts and minds of their party members to change their party constitution to make their presidential candidate accountable to the membership and not to be a power unto him/herself. They will have to unite, burying old prejudices between them, to bring about this vital change in the PPP and the country as a whole. There are people who think that they can wish away the PPP as a political and social movement for change, but they are sadly mistaken. The PPP is essentially a workers’ party and they will fight to re-direct the leadership or change it at some point. They must follow, closely, the struggles that are taking place inside the PNC, except that no one knows, yet, what programme or policies the new changes will bring within the PNC.

Both Ralph and Moses must firmly defend the revolutionary ideas of Cheddi Jagan and promote his policies of social justice and economic regeneration of the 1950s and ’60s. Finally, we must all recognise that no one political grouping can restore the fabric of our society that has been systematically destroyed by previous governments. Such rebuilding will need the entire nation.

Yours faithfully,
Mike Rahman