Dear Editor,
In the summer of 2010 I travelled to Guyana to meet with Winston Murray. I had lunch and talked with him on three occasions. He truly embodied the hopes and dreams of many people of all races in Guyana for a new kind of politics. A non-racial one. He would have transformed and re-invented the PNC. He had plans to walk from Crabwood Creek to Pomeroon – and to visit every village to explain his policy: To apologize for PNC’s misrule in the past; that the PNC was never meant to be an ethnic party; that the politics of Guyana evolved that way because of both internal and external pressures; and, that he was going to end it.
The centrepiece of his programme was to begin a serious conversation with the alienated Indian population, and to hopefully broaden the party’s base of support and win over 10% of the Indian vote. Winston understood the essence of campaign politics in multi-racial societies, which basically was to form genuine multiracial coalitions/alliances. He was going to end the window-dressing template which has been the cornerstone of all of Guyana’s politics since 1957. He understood the value of canvassing in campaigns. He wanted to win the nomination at least a year ahead of the elections so that he would have time to meet and talk individually or in small groups with all of the estimated 350,000 voters.
Unfortunately, the leader of the party, Mr Corbin, dragged out the nomination process for as long as possible. Winston Murray knew before his untimely passing that his chances of getting the nomination were almost nil. I once reported to him on my visit with Mr Corbin (August 2010) and expressed my negative assessment of his chances. His terse reply: “I think you are right.“ In another culture and society, party leaders would have seized the opportunity to endorse a candidate who offered so much to re-invent the party and improve its chances of winning elections.
Winston Murray shall live in the collective memories of the Guyanese people as someone who embodied the best hopes and dreams of forging new non-racial parties and politics, and a non-racial society in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
