Dear Editor,
Mr Trotman as the new Speaker of our National Assembly has a unique role to play in the history of our country. As a member of the legal profession, he is well placed to understand the requirements better than most folks and he must work out very quickly how he wants to be remembered in the history books. Does he want to carry on in the same old way as he did in the AFC? I write as a journalist, a commentator and a community activist. I have broken away from any control of political parties and organizations. I would like to be fair and just, but I have a class line. I am completely on the side of the workers, farmers and the progressive intelligentsia in Guyana and internationally. That is my benchmark.
I have been fair with my old friend and comrade, Donald Ramotar, by stating that I will offer ‘critical support‘ to him in his call for genuine co-operation with the opposition forces. I do sincerely think that he could be the best President if he were to stick rigidly to the national interest and not engage in partisan politics as he was accustomed to do. In short, Comrade Ramotar must seek every opportunity to break with the rottenness of the past – in the PPP in particular.
Mr Trotman has a key role as a full-time Speaker in ensuring that our parliament becomes the ‘People’s Parliament,’ where the interests and needs of the ordinary Guyanese are seriously addressed. In this new role he must maintain his persona – friendly, kind, approachable and above all, sincere in his commitments to real people in greater need. I don‘t think he can follow Ralph Ramkarran; what ‘precedent‘ is he talking about and what lessons from the British or American systems? We have a unique political situation to deal with.
That is the issue: to have a serious programme to seriously transform Guyana and far afield. Chairing the sessions of parliament is child’s play. I am sure he is familiar with the Lord Citrine’s A.B.C. of Chairmanship. Lord Citrine was a British Trade Unionist, not like the ones we have here. Mr Trotman is not Khemraj Ramjattan, that was the reason why he presented him with a book written by Mahatma Gandhi, which talks about humility and good human qualities at the last AFC Annual Conference. Mr Trotman’s father – Donald Trotman – a former High Court judge is a family friend, and I know he will get the sort of fatherly support that is also unique.
I and thousands of Guyanese in Guyana and abroad are expecting that Mr Trotman may be able to facilitate a process that can lead to major changes in our dear land of Guyana, but the reactionary forces may not allow him to serve out his full term of office. The storm ahead will be like a tsunami, given the world economic crisis and its likely impact on Guyana and only a national unity government can quell it. We may be forced to have a new election if progress is not made. The country cannot be held to ransom by forces – the rich – who have supported the PPP with their billions and will be demanding their rewards. It will require at least a minimum economic programme that directly benefits the poorer section of society and can save us from what is to follow.
The past economic policies of the PNC and the PPP have failed our people – badly. We need to move away from the current economic system that lies with the world economic system that is in perpetual crisis. There is no end to the crisis in the USA or Europe.
I welcome Mr Trotman’s idea of taking the Parliament to the people. But how does he do it? I hope it is not another meet-the-people tour, wasting the tax-payers‘ money as the last PPP regime did. We must have none of that; we must try and save money, reduce the pay of the President and ministers, and cut out all the perks so that the lifestyle of the elected equals that of the masses that they represent.
The electors want to see real changes; in fact that is what the AFC stands for – Alliance For Change.
Yours faithfully,
Jinnah Rahman
