Dear Editor,
We Guyanese have important work to do. I write this letter first to support the AFC, Mr Trotman and Mr Ramjattan in their quest for leadership of Guyana. The AFC started as an idea and it came down to three remarkable Guyanese patriots, Khemraj Ramjattan (now Chairman of the party and designated presidential candidate), Raphael Trotman (now leader of the party and former presidential candidate) and the indomitable Madam Sheila Holder. As the old people say, behind every good man, there is a great woman and Sheila has been the anchor to a party that has faced the guns from the elephant in the Guyanese political room. The party is now much larger and stronger than it was in 2006 and hence organizationally is better grounded to be the movement to take Guyana out of the mess created by the PPP and PNC.
I am proud of the outreach that Team AFC Guyana is doing so far. These young men and women in the AFC have just concluded a sweep of the Berbice area and the feedback from the rice and sugar belt against the PPP is most encouraging. The same message is coming out of the traditionally PNC strongholds like Linden. The grassroots is demanding that the AFC not join either the PNC or PPP. The message is clear: “We can trust you because you have principles.” The people in greater numbers want to free themselves of the unprincipled PNC and PPP. In 2010, the PPP has found itself in a similar position to the PNC in 1992. In 1992, there was a groundswell against the PNC and its rigging of elections, notwithstanding the ERP and its merits. In 2010, there is a groundswell against the PPP and its wanton corruption and abuse of state resources, notwithstanding its sizable budgets and public expenditure.
I humbly outline my observations on why we must all contribute to saving Guyana by getting the AFC elected come 2011:
1. Our nation is in trouble on most fronts. The dream of the founding fathers is under siege as a result of the PPP taking the Guyanese people for granted. There is much need for improvement in how they account for taxpayer funds and how they govern the people. Further, we now have an invasion of Guyana by narco-traffickers. The truth is that all of this is happening under the PPP, not the PNC. Guyana has never seen so many drugs and illegal activities in its entire history.
2. Good things are happening in Guyana but for whom? Working people in the sugar, rice and mining belts, along with the urban poor are hurting badly. With jobs evaporating, inequality rising as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, taxes increasing and a very big spike in the cost of food and other essential items, there is no way out for the working people in Guyana under the PPP.
3. Our tourist President must be given credit for trying to position himself on the world scene. At least Burnham did this and was recognized globally, while the head of state is not getting any of his flawed ideas accepted or implemented. His pipe-dream of a low carbon strategy is still to develop traction globally, with the Norwegian funds still up in the air leaving a big hole in the 2010 budget. He is failing to deal with fundamental issues like social cohesion, but yet he chooses to put on a suit and pretend to the world that all is well at home. Well the international community knows everything about our broken Guyanese home. As our President spends his two minutes at home, he continuously fails to conduct the nation’s affairs with dignity and effectiveness, leading to more irrational and illogical public policy as the day unfolds. This style of management has taken its toll on the President as his language has degraded to a level where he has lost the ability to foster greater cooperation from the Guyanese people. His latest outburst against Chris Ram is just a timely reminder of where the nation state is going under his presidency.
4. We have a President who has not effectively dealt with our nation’s dependence on oil; who has not delivered to date on the hydro project, much less the Amaila Falls road. We have a President who was bequeathed an economic strategy started by Desmond Hoyte and continued by Cheddi Jagan that set the foundation for a reduction in our indebtedness and job creation. Now, our President is at the steering wheel in driving our indebtedness up again and unemployment is a national embarrassment.
5. We have a President who oversees a severely burdened Police Force that is undertrained and under equipped to prosecute the narco-traffickers and other criminals.
6. We have a President who has mastered the art of failing to use the power of diplomacy with statements like “Not at my meeting”; “I am fed up with all these sour people.”
Clearly the job of the next President is to rebuild Guyanese institutions, restart the dawn of the new era, and restore Guyana’s leadership to influence by uniting its people. Everything I have learnt in my years in politics has convinced me that Khemraj Prakash Ramjattan is one of the best candidates for this job. I have associated with Praks in the PYO/PPP for many years and I can attest to the fact that he was one of the brightest, smartest young persons in the party at that time. Moreso, in spite of all his public duties, he remains incorruptible. He has always been in the forefront offering his legal services pro bono to the party members, when other PPP legal eagles were hiding from these cases. Listening to him in New Jersey, it just reminded me of his remarkable ability to inspire people with his honest, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact way of dealing with the issues. He has the intelligence and willingness to listen that every successful President needs. Listening to him at one of the strategy meetings speaking on the economic issues, I found his practical grasp of the matters at hand very progressive. He also has a clear grasp of our national security challenges along with the difficult ethnic security issues. Listening to the AFC’s practical solutions on these issues was most stimulating.
His family heritage (I am astonished at how he relates to the female members of his family, especially his mother with care and love) and his core life values have provided a unique foundation to lead our increasingly polarized nation. This clearly demonstrates he is a well rounded individual.
I encourage Guyana to get to know the true Khemraj Ramjattan and AFC team as they attempt to restore Guyana on its path to becoming the Singapore of the Caribbean.
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
