People must trust their political leaders

Dear Editor,

The more people think for themselves, the worse it is for the cartel in power. Free-thinking individuals are the greatest threat to this Jagdeo regime and their aristocratic positions. How do we motivate people to stand up for themselves?  Trust!  They must trust their political leaders.

After the debacle of 2006 when that coalition broke up, the people lost faith in the opposition.  They saw them as a self serving group of people where every Tom, Dick and Harry wanted to be a presidential candidate. If that approach is repeated again in 2011 then the working class that live in Guyana must set themselves up for 5 years more of hardship. The facts are the PPP will get the largest chunk of votes come 2011 and this is mainly because of fear.

The largest chunk of votes could be 55%, or it could be 45% and thus this definition is subject to what the political opposition does over the next 12 months. Only one person can emerge as the presidential candidate of the political opposition including the progressive forces in the PPP and civil society. For the People’s Partnership to ever consider winning, they have to have the right programme, agreed by all the key players, but most importantly they have to have the right candidate at the apex of the team. That person must have the ability to campaign in Enmore and secure votes. No party in Guyana in 2006, save and except the PPP, had that ability. If this message is ignored, then the political opposition must throw away the keys as they imprison themselves to the opposition benches in parliament for five more years.

On that note, if the SN article captioned ‘Corbin rules out leading coalition…’ (June 26) are his words, I must for the first time in my life say to Mr Robert Corbin – respect due.  It takes a lot to walk away from power when you have tasted it.  I am sure he has analysed the facts and recognized that the PNC with their 38% support can play a constructive role in a government led by a People’s Partnership, but they cannot win power alone. It is as clear as day that if all the political parties run on their own, the PPP will get the largest chunk of votes.

However, the synergies from a People’s Partnership led by a leader that is well respected by all in the working class, by the youths and the women, will result in a different ball game.  I remain convinced that General Joe Singh is the only leader in Guyana who can motivate the working class regardless of racial and ethnic background.

I have done detailed analyses of the voting patterns in Guyana since 2001 and it is clear that both in the 2001 and 2006 elections, any political parties can go into Linden and get votes, but only the PPP can go into Enmore and get votes. How does one overcome this obstacle?  Trust!

Many in the Indian-Guyanese working class are fed up with the Jagdeo regime but they are fearful of the consequences if they break ranks.  The medicine has been fed to them over and over that all is not well, but they need more time to fix their working class issues.

But that time is being used instead to formulate a society where the ruling class and their bourgeoisie cronies corrupt all state institutions to serve their personal agenda.  Anyone who attempts to organize the working class will be ‘cuss out’ and bullied.

Yes the AFC will get more votes, the PNC may lose some votes in the upcoming elections but as individual parties it is not enough.  If we have a People’s Partnership with people like Joe Singh, Cheddi Jagan Jnr, Murray, Dev, Trotman, Ramjattan, Roopnaraine, Thomas, Reihl, Carberry, all campaigning in all the villages regardless of race, class or creed, there is a greater chance of them reaping the benefits to win an election, since the disillusioned working class will have a credible alternative.

This is the justification to encourage all of the opposition political leaders to put their personal egos on ice and allow the working class, the academic class and the business class to work with their respective political machinery to do the following in a People’s Partnership Movement:

1. Clean up politics after 2011 – overhauling the constitution to make it more reflective of the needs of the working class, not the ruling class, more accountable and more representative of the different classes in the Guyanese society.

2. Create more proper paying jobs for the people – stimulating growth in the private sector by offering real and direct incentives for every job created.

3. Reform the tax system – to remove more of the poor from the PAYE system, taxing those who can afford a fairer deal on items such as luxury items, alcohol and cigarettes (rum should be a luxury in Guyana rather than a tool to keep the working class in lala land), reducing the corporation tax so that companies can channel more of their retained earnings into job-creating activities.

4. Preserve our future by making all services to children under 16 years old free, and by offering parents a child grant in kind (locally grown foodstuff).

This will be paid for by a more representative tax system.  Many including Joey Jagan have stated that it is not time to talk about the candidate but the programme. Well let us start the ball rolling! I am calling on the AFC to start the dialogue with all the political and civil society leaders, including the progressive forces in the PPP on a just, fair and implementable programme with the working class in mind.

Corbin has spoken, Dev has spoken, Roopnaraine has spoken, Cheddi Jagan Jnr has spoken, Moses Nagamootoo has spoken, Ramjattan has spoken, Trotman has spoken, Murray has spoken and Clive Thomas has spoken. It is time for the AFC to start the ball rolling.

Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh