Dear Editor,
The letter I penned in the Sunday Stabroek of July 28, 2019, ‘The AFC has squandered its opportunity, it should not have the prime ministerial position’, has elicited some responses and I’d appreciate an opportunity to respond and add some additional context to the positions I’ve adopted.
I believe that our recent history points to the need for meaningful constitutional reform to ensure that the ‘winner’ in our multi-ethnic society does not ‘take all’. Until there is meaningful constitutional reform however, our choices remain between the PPP and PNC. The AFC was an anomaly that could have been something lasting or at a minimum, a catalyst for significant change. Unfortunately, in the end all we saw were mirrors of what we tried to run from. A most painful experience for those of us who expected a different outcome even though the AFC’s beginnings mirrored that of the PPP/PNC – the very definition of insanity, according to Einstein. That failure will have a lasting, negative impact on small parties.
Until we secure genuine constitutional reform, we must therefore find ways for the PPP and PNC to work for us. For me, it is ensuring periodic, sufficient times in the opposition and government. It is now too soon for the PPP to come back, as it must find its way back to its roots first. The only party capable of ensuring that is the PNC.
The coalition (AFC included) has achieved a lot within the past four years for which we cannot deny it credit. It is my view that that was largely hinged on the support base being more critical and ready to hold the coalition accountable. Despite attrition largely because of the AFC, that support base remains more mixed in terms of ethnicities, and has the most mixed ethnicities too – something the PPP must ponder on and address while in opposition.
Very critically, and why I am arguing for the space allotted to the AFC be reduced, the PNC in the absence of constitutional reform, is the party most inclined to reach out to others and give them real power. Hence, it is my hope that new people be given a chance and that they do not squander their opportunity.
To those seeking to invoke my father’s name: Boyo Ramsaroop (1938 – 2010) began with the PPP at a young age, from its very formation in 1947. Growing up, he sought to give me balance, educating me on atrocities committed in the name of the PPP and putting me on his shoulders to listen to Dr Walter Rodney. For all of his life he harboured fervent hopes for a return of 1953, the pinnacle of unity in Guyana. He never hated the PNC and enjoyed a good relationship with President Hoyte. Though he would often remind him that he was a staunch Jaganite, even when he was given the Medal of Service. We campaigned, the entire Ramsaroop family, with all our resources for the PPP up until the 2001 elections. That was unconditional. In 2006, my father finally left the PPP and joined the AFC.
I am not looking for a job from President Granger. I now live in Berlin, Germany and I hold dual citizenship. My support is as an ordinary citizen. I consider both Grangers as friends, beyond any politics but I am not a member of the PNC and I have not joined any other party after resigning from the AFC in 2014 – a political party that I helped to found in 2005. Prior to 2005, I was a member of the PPP – ever since as a child, from 1976 with the Pioneers. Similar to my support for the PPP prior to 2005 and my support for the AFC between 2005 and 2014, my current support for President Granger and the coalition is unconditional, just as it was in 2015.
I acknowledge Freddie Kissoon’s vehement disagreement with my stance. My feelings for Freddie however remain unchanged; he has been a dear family friend for as long as I can remember and he has made huge, selfless contributions for our country.
Finally, I’d like to acknowledge that the AFC and other notable persons were very much at my wife’s funeral and in the rain too. I had singled out the presence of the PPP and PNC to highlight our common humanity in spite of more than a half century of ethnic polarisation, to urge peace, and as a tribute to my father.
Yours faithfully,
Gerhard Ramsaroop
