Dear Editor,
I am perplexed by Ms Sandra Khan’s (‘The PPP/C-PNCR framework needs to be dismantled for the nation to progress,’ SN 28.10.08) erroneous interpretation of the phrase “the forty plus percentage of the population” that was contained in my letter, ‘If we want to challenge the PPP/C on constitutional issues the PNCR must respect its own constitution’ (SN 17.10.08). How Ms Khan arrived at the fatally flawed conclusion that my reference was to some ethnic group is anybody’s guess. However, when this and other defects in Ms Khan’s letter are juxtaposed with her obvious intellect, it becomes clear that that the ‘errors’ are not because of lack of knowledge.
I am sure Ms Khan is aware that the 2002 Census reflected that Afro and Indo Guyanese comprise 30.2 % and 43.5 % of the population respectively. I am confident that she knows that my reference to “forty plus percentage” is not and cannot be an allusion to any specific ethnic group. So why did Ms Khan make this and other outlandish statements in her letter?
Ms Khan implied her admiration for the principled stand taken by Team Alexander during the last PNCR congress. While I welcome this, I cannot ignore the numerous toxic statements made about the PNC that cast aspersions on the two former leaders, Messrs LFS Burnham and HD Hoyte.
In her letter, Ms Khan concludes or implies that:
1. The PNC believes the greatest atrocity the PPP/C commits is to win free and fair elections.
2. To set an objective to deliver PNCR supporters from the atrocities of the PPP/C is an indication that the PNCR wants to subject PPP/C supporters to the same fate.
3. For fifty years, the PNC has been engaged in creating havoc and destruction, murder and mayhem.
This exposes some latent aspects of Ms Khan’s thinking. Is Ms Khan suggesting that extra-judicial death squads are not atrocities for her? Is she saying that a desire for equity in the society constitutes planned atrocities against PPP/C supporters? Is she implying that acts over the last fifty years against the PNC and its supporters do not amount to havoc and destruction, murder and mayhem? If in fact Ms Khan is saying these things then she is adopting a prejudicial and acrimonious position against an entire group. She is saying that in Guyana, they have no rights; they can be slaughtered at will and are not entitled to equity.
I sincerely hope that this is not what Ms Khan is suggesting. I await her urgent clarification.
I believe that for Guyana to move forward we must unshackle ourselves from the politics of the sixties. I can attest that there existed a corps of younger leaders in the PNCR who subscribed to this principle. We believed that increasing the pie for individual citizens must result from increasing the size of the national pie, not barring the participation of some citizens. We never subscribed to the notion of the annihilation of the PPP/C but rather understood that the PPP/C represents a critical mass of Guyanese and therefore will always be involved in the affairs of the state. We yearned for new politics that placed emphasis on policies and character instead of ethno-cultural stratification. In addition, we subscribe to the concept of shared governance.
However, we did not see shared governance as a solution to an ethnic security dilemma nor do we see it as a quick fix. We see it as a national necessity. We believe that shared governance is the most effective way of enhancing harmony, dismantling the ethnic aspects of our politics, creating the environment for economic prosperity and depoliticizing our national institutions such as the judiciary.
Yes! It will call for all players to look beyond self-imposed support bases. Politicians and supporters alike will need to elevate their thinking and look at the long-term interest of the country. However, political parties will still have to be strong. Therefore, nothing is wrong with Ms Julianne Gaul longing for the days when the PNCR put tens of thousands on the Square of the Revolution.
I disagree with Ms Khan’s contention that the PNCR and the PPP/C cannot be a part of Guyana’s solution. Whether Ms Khan likes it or not, both the PNCR and the PPP/C will remain as major players on the national stage for the foreseeable future. Consequently, they along with others must be involved in finding the solutions to our national problems. To suggest otherwise is to expose an arrogance that is attributable to the despotic and undemocratic.
In closing, I wish to express the hope that Ms Khan did have a happy Diwali and that the light did shine brightly from within her to extinguish some of the darkness in our country.
Yours faithfully,
James K. McAllister
