Dear Editor,
Sasenarine Singh’s June 18, 2010 letter titled ‘The presidential candidate of a Guyana People’s Partnership would have to be someone not tainted by the PPP or PNC’ was refreshing, but it is not without question. That narrative of the PPP politician speaking to the constituent about Trotman is bang on. The message is simple to each major group: fear the African on the one hand and condemn the Indian on the other for marginalization. Moving on to the issue of finding new leadership for this nation, I think Sasenarine Singh is wrong on Joe Singh. While he brings some excellent qualities to the table, the fact that he is a Guyanese who has been part of the situation for a long time even if as a mere onlooker, is a disqualification. For this nation needs dramatic, profound and moving change. That change cannot come from within. It certainly cannot come from PPP and PNC discards and former denizens like Khemraj Ramjattan and Raphael Trotman who now are continuing in the same vein as the PPP and PNC with their internal leadership issue. It cannot come from the PPP and PNC and their litany of terrible crimes committed upon the poor people of this nation. Broken political parties known for political devastation in their tumultuous history cannot produce leaders. They produce failures. These men made a fundamental error in judgment in joining failed political movements in the first place, and when they could not realize their desired political traction in those failed movements they jumped ship and started their own political party. Then there are those who toe the line and turn a blind eye to the extinguishing of dignity, integrity, accountability and transparency.
Guyana cannot be changed by Guyanese who have lived their entire lives in this floundering miasma of a country. This is where they grew up and the only thing they’ve learnt. They cannot bring change if they have no semblance of understanding of what real change looks like. If they only knew corruption, paying a bribe for a basic service, nepotism, cronyism, party paramountcy, kickbacks, misuse of other people’s property, rampant materialism, the never-see-come-to-see mentality, fighting at every turn, lying indiscriminately, seeing crime as economic opportunity et al then that is what they will practise or turn a blind eye to their cohorts doing. These people cannot change the nation. The setup of this nation requires constant compromising of one’s morality to survive and eke out a living. For those seeking the greater grandeur of lofty mansions, fancy cars and all the material perks of life, more of their morality must be sacrificed. Once sacrificed it cannot be regained. This is an issue of choice. You can choose to live poor and stay above the immoral fray or get rich and kill your morality trying. Cheddi Jagan and Walter Rodney accepted the first choice and lived by it. The current generation of politicians do not. I cannot trust them. Just like I cannot trust those who return to this nation to peddle garbage for political masters in return for appointments and money.
The new leadership of this nation must be recruited from outside Guyana. That is the nation’s only hope. From amongst Guyanese who have lived and worked for prolonged periods or were born in systems where they have not compromised their moral code. An unbreakable moral code in the leadership of this nation is essential to correcting its course. This leadership can bring real change. If they know what is right for Guyana, the PPP, PNC and AFC should start by looking outwards to find such individuals and to give them the reins to accomplish penetrative change. The majority of Guyanese actually want to migrate to these countries where these individuals were born, lived for extensive periods, studied and worked because they see these nations as possessing better systems than Guyana. So why not get leaders from those nations? And I am not talking about political sycophants or opportunists.
I am talking about people who love and care about Guyana. People who may not know Guyana intimately but know how to govern, manage, administer, establish systems, improve productivity and destroy waste, corruption, negligence and malfeasance intimately. People who already have mansions, money, status, power, brainpower, proven results and every convenience and amenity in life and who frankly do not need anything from anyone. People who do not go from absolute poverty to power and feel time is running out to grab everything they could. People who do not need to be paid or to collect handsome pensions. People who do not have many friends in Guyana pushing that person to corruption. People who can return to the diaspora and earn a quality living at any time. People who do not really need anything from Guyana. People who do not need the job but perform it for the sake of service.
I expect an outpouring of outrage from men lamenting that foreigners cannot lead in Guyana because they do not know the struggles of the Guyanese people because they don’t live here, blah blah. You know what, these foreigners send almost half a billion US dollars with no strings attached to Guyanese every year because they know. They hear it from friends and family. They are in constant contact with them. They are wept to on the telephone. They pay those hospital bills for sick children in Guyana. They feed, clothe and house the wretched of the Guyana earth. They read the news. They visit. They meet Guyanese constantly who tell them of the struggles. Political hacks in Guyana have no place in questioning foreigners’ knowledge of the struggles of the Guyanese people. Guyanese abroad know better about the plight of the Guyanese people than political soothsayers living in gated communities who are out of touch with the people.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Maxwell