Dear Editor,
Recently, I noted that the PNC has not ruled out a coalition approach to contest the 2011 election. However, I do hope that they aren’t interested in forming a coalition government with the other opposition parties to contest the 2011 election in an attempt to defeat the ruling PPP government, because it is going to be a waste of time.

I am quite certain that with any opposition coalition the ruling PPP will not be defeated in 2011, but instead get a bigger victory. The reason is that ethnic voting is evident in every part in our society and may continue to play a big role in 2011, just as we have seen in the last four elections.

We must remember when the AFC was formed and contested elections in 2006 under its slogan, ‘Vote for change’ with their leaders,  former PNCR member Mr Raphael Trotman, former WPA member Mrs Sheila Holder and former PPP/C member Mr Khemraj Ramjattan, everyone was expecting a turning point in terms of  ethnic voting.  In the end, however, the AFC got six seats with the majority of their votes coming from African Guyanese, in addition to which they came in third, because ethnic voting remains entrenched in Guyana.

For the PPP to be defeated we as a nation would have to take our destiny into our own hands and resist voting on racial grounds.

Despite the fact that the benefit of coalitions was seen in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname where the ruling administrations were toppled, it doesn’t mean that it could also happen in Guyana in the same manner.
The only reason why in the twin-island republic’s elections, Patrick Manning and his People’s National Movement were ousted in a massive 29 to 12 victory for the People’s Partnership coalition led by Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, is because the citizens of that country (and others) are different from us. While the majority of Guyanese vote on ethnic grounds, The Trinidadians voted on the policies of political parties.

So let us all join and vote for change, progress and modernization in 2011.

Yours faithfully,
Rayvonne P Bourne