Dear Editor,
In reference to the Cadres poll and the senseless attack by Dr Randy Persaud on SN, I would like first of all to congratulate Mr Raphael Trotman and the AFC on their upward mobility which the poll shows, and I wish them continued success. Dr Persaud should be ashamed of himself to spout such venom against SN and accuse it of being bourgeois and other Marxist terminology in order to put SN down, although while he accuses SN of bias, the Chronicle, which the government owns, is biased propaganda in the extreme. Comparing the Chronicle’s bias to the bias of the SN is like comparing the Essequibo River to Dr Persaud’s clogged-up drain in front of his house. Editor, having been around politics all my life, I can tell you and the public, that I have seen many ‘Randies’ before, and they all pass along through the kaleidoscope of political life with their boring propaganda and are here today and gone tomorrow, so he should not be paid any attention; it’s just a waste of time.
Editor, the Cadres poll is welcome information for all those who oppose this government, because it confirms the decline of PPP/C support; it re-affirms that a big tent opposition can bring real change; and it shows that at least 25% of the electorate is not decided. Welcome information, as it shows that in general, the feeling of new political directions is settling in among the voting population. The opposition forces need to get their act together rapidly. The very fact that the PPP decried this poll quickly, tells us, the citizens, that they are very concerned with the falling level of support among their own traditional supporters and don’t want anyone to know it. This poll has to be a wake-up call for them and instead of putting Randy Persaud on SN and the poll results, they should be welcoming such a poll and take measures to change the things they’re failing at. But no, they denounce it and try to attack the SN for honest reporting. Let them attack the poll and decry it because in the end, the Cadres pollsters will do their job and not be intimidated by anyone. Who cares who paid for this Cadres poll and next time if they’re smart, the PPP should pay Cadres and send Dr Persaud back to Trinidad.
Augustus (63bc-14ad), the first Emperor of Rome, believed in free speech and even went so far as to say that many times he agreed to the opposition views and took them seriously enough to consult them and thereby brought improvements to citizens’ lives. From the brutal successes of two civil wars, he ruled the Roman empire for almost 45 years (the longest of any Roman leader) with a firm hand but with a concept of involving as many Roman citizens in his decision-making and his civil administration, even including former slaves as leading civil servants. He was a very successful leader and he completed many censuses in order to gauge numbers which he had to use in order to plan for good governance, but he also used these censuses to gauge to mood of the citizens he ruled. The periodical census which Augustus undertook was like a poll in the ancient world, and if disenchantment with his rule was detected, he made compromises and found solutions to the citizens’ complaints; he ‘listened’ to the results of his censuses and designed positive changes. Here we are two thousand years after Augustus and we have to endure Dr Persaud telling us that we must bury our heads in the sand the way he does. No way!
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)