Dear Editor,
Everywhere I travelled in recent weeks found people disenchanted with the APNU+AFC coalition. They are not pleased with the PPP either. People feel disappointed with the change they got last May. Many feel they have gotten an exchange. Many now call for a new political force that they can trust comprising of individuals with integrity and who will provide real change rather than an exchange. The business community in the greater Georgetown area feels it is time people from outside the dominant political parties step forward to provide sound leadership. The name of former PPP stalwart Ralph Ramkarran crops up in the business community and among the professional classes of all groups.
Also, conversations with hundreds of traditional PPP supporters and some APNU+AFC supporters reveal that had the former Speaker of the Parliament been the Presidential candidate of the PPP in 2011 or in 2015, the party would have easily won a majority of seats. They also feel the same had Moses Nagamootoo being the Presidential candidate. Almost every supporter of the PPP told me the party erred in not selecting Ramkarran or Nagamootoo as its Presidential candidate and as such paid the ultimate price – lost its majority in 2011; they were both held in very high esteem by PPP supporters. They also said the party should not have excommunicated Ramkarran (who was pretty much pushed out) in 2012 after Nagamootoo jumped ship to the AFC in 2011. They feel the party needed a credible senior figure like Ramkarran after Nagamootoo’s departure to stem political haemorrhaging and that party should have reconciled with him in going into the 2015 elections to boost its chances of a victory.
Many feel Ramkarran should launch a political movement since reconciliation with the PPP leadership is not possible. Those traditional supporters of the PPP who defected to the AFC in 2011 and 2015 are disappointed with Nagamootoo and that party. They are looking for a new political movement to fill the void. An outstanding political figure like Ramkarran or someone of his ilk can capture their imagination with the kind of leadership for which the nation has been crying out to address its many problems. Many say he has the capacity to win over non-traditional supporters of all three parties to bring the country together.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
