Dear Editor,
Yesterday SN carried an interesting lead article on its front page reporting on the “jockeying” for leadership positions in Guyana’s oldest political party. There were no references about the future direction of the party, or any strategies to win future elections. Does any aspiring leader support constitutional reform?
Both the PPP and PNC left a bitter legacy of racial politics in this land. Today the world is much different from the one in which Jagan and Burnham forged their ideologies and campaign politics. The Democratic Party in the United States elected an African-American guy to be its leader (did it the hard way, a primary election) and he then went on to win two terms in the White House. And this has happened in a nation that has only 13 per cent African-Americans. Is there a lesson here for Guyana’s ethnic parties, the PPP and PNC?
And, so I pose this question: Guyana is largely a bi-racial society; the PPP has always claimed it is a multi-racial party, so why then could one of several loyal, long-serving African-Guyanese members (Sam Hinds, Clement Rohee) not be considered, mentored, anointed to become the next leader and presidential candidate of the PPP?
If the PPP has an unwritten rule that the party can only be led by an Indian-Guyanese, then the party should make that a declaration, and thereafter call for consociational (or apan jaat) democracy. (In Suriname, everyone votes for his ethnic party, and the ethnic parties forge a combo. Two combos, each comprising ethnic parties contest the elections.) The ruling coalition in Guyana today closely approximates consociational precepts.
The PPP is openly inviting disgrace and condemnation for its continued practice of racial politics in the 21st century, whether it does this subtly or openly. It is time to move away from racial politics.
Mr Jagdeo addressed a town-hall style meeting last Friday evening at Naressa Palace restaurant in Queens, New York. I asked him simply what strategy he had to win the next general election. It is clear from his confusing answer that he intends to do the same thing he always did in the past, namely, promote a rigid form of racial voting. He definitely has no new ideas.
His old time-worn strategy does not bode well for the future of the party or the nation. It will not work in a largely bi-racial society; and the Indian share of the electorate has declined to well below 45%.
Guyana’s racial and window-dressing politics cannot survive for many more years into the 21st century. The PPP should take the lead today to put an end to its racial voting schemes. For the PPP to win the next elections, it must develop a strategy to win over at least 12-15% of the African vote.
I also asked Mr Jagdeo, what his party did in 23 years to promote racial balance in the security forces. His answer descended into a lot of foolishness. The result is that today there are fewer Indian-Guyanese in the army and police force than in the 1960s and 1970s.
It is impossible to have a stable and equitable society with the police force so heavily dominated with one racial group, to the almost total exclusion of the other substantially large racial groups. As president, Jagdeo should have ensured the parliament passed a law to set percentages of racial representation in the armed forces, and then use the fiat of law to fulfil that legal quota.
Mr Jagdeo also said Guyana has one of the more advanced constitutions anywhere in the world. This was a real shocker. Last Friday’s newpapers (SN, KN) carried lengthy articles on how Jagdeo’s cabinet usurped the powers of an autonomous (independent) agency, the NIS, and instructed the agency to “invest” a substantial amount of the pension funds into the Berbice Bridge Scheme. Worse, NIS has no representation on the Board of Directors. All this happened because of a badly written constitution that gave the president powers befitting a mediaeval sultan.
Mr Jagdeo’s declaration has effectively foreclosed any hope of getting amendments to the constitution.
Aspiring leaders of the PPP to stay relevant in a changing society must necessarily develop new ideas about the role of the party in a multiracial society, creating space in the party for leaders of different ethnicities and how to win support from different ethnic constituencies. A refusal or failure to develop new and fresh ideas will turn the PPP into a moribund institution.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
