Dear Editor,
I wish to extend heartiest congratulations to President Donald Ramotar who led the PPP/C to a minority victory in the free, fair and open elections of November 28 last.
Being the President of this nation for the first time, already he has announced his intention to implement initiatives to be inclusive to address immediately the concerns, fears and insecurities of depressed groups, to correct mistakes and penalize wrongdoers appropriately, and to seek the widest consensus possible from the AFC and APNU and wider civil society.
I believe firmly that the President and his new-look administration must be given the time and space to prove their promises. I feel too that they are all seized with the urgency that the crucial issues of transparency, even-handedness and all-embracing democratic development and good efficient governance demand. These vital national issues can only be attended to in an environment of peace, respect for law and order and the recognition of the role and procedures of our national institutions.
I have argued at several forums and at different times that economic and social progress are not sustainable or even possible without democracy. For the PPP, it can be said that with free and fair elections, history repeated itself. It was evident that Comrade Donald Ramotar himself was confident of winning the presidency and of controlling the parliament. But party zealots identified the basic flaw in the campaign as an over-concentration on one man – Donald Ramotar. Experienced party campaigners, including parliamentarians, were dropped as candidates. Mr Ramotar indulged in excessive optimism and over-confidence. He went into the race with a ‘new PPP‘ – literally an unknown team. The reality is that this could lead to a no-win situation.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
