Dear Editor,
Relying on the Marxist-Leninist system of democratic centralism, a small group of individuals within the PPP has selected the next presidential candidate of that party. The chosen candidate, Mr Donald Ramotar, will now be offered to the Guyanese electorate – many of whom do not support the methods of communism – at the upcoming elections. If elected, Mr Ramotar will enjoy the luxuries of power that come from the 1980 Burnham constitution. One such luxury is he (like President Jagdeo) can never be prosecuted for wrongdoings committed while in power. Mind you, Mr Ramotar and the small group of leaders in the PPP strongly opposed President Burnham and his constitution when they themselves were in opposition.
The next step will be the selection of like-minded individuals to take up positions in the Cabinet and Parliament. These individuals will tend to group-think and no one will challenge the leader on any single policy, no matter how harmful it would be for the country. They may even select like-minded ‘technocrats’ who will fall in line when backward policies are implemented. For example, no one seems willing to question President Jagdeo on the moribund US$200 mill Skeldon sugar factory investment (even the PNC never committed such a colossal investment snafu). Did anyone even explain to President Jagdeo the foreign policy implications of cursing out the Americans in Iran? Did anyone in the PPP ever mention to President Jagdeo that the much talked about Norway funds are just pocket change in terms of the funds required for economic development finance? I use the term pocket change here because the LCDS is woefully underfunded. Of course, there are other problems with the LCDS in that the sequencing of projects may not be the best and are meant to promote the interests of the elected oligarchs who try to control the business space in Guyana (see: http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/pramprapa/29733.htm).
A new twist has emerged. There is the distinct possibility that Mr Ramotar will not be able to be his own self for at least five years. He might need to fulfil the wishes of a Benefactor-in-Chief for about five years, something akin to President Putin’s Russian political manoeuvres. Should he win the election, Mr Ramotar will need to decide whether he wants to be a Putin-like surrogate or become Guyana’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Becoming Guyana’s Lula da Silva will require rising up to become a truly great man. It will require transformational thinking, methods and policies. I doubt whether the group-think method can promote or nurture such a radical change.
Tremendous challenges await the next president. None is better equipped for the task than Mr Khemraj Ramjattan of the Alliance for Change (AFC). The next president will have to reform the police, prosecute criminals, prosecute those who killed Minister Sawh, raise major funding for economic development (and not pocket change so as to maintain the economy at subsistence), fight the drug traffickers and smugglers, promote energy independence, deal with global warming, reduce profit taxes and the VAT, limit the runaway spending of the government, cut corruption and make public procurement transparent, promote other non-bank methods of business financing, reform the constitution and electoral system, reform the public service, implement the Freedom of Information Act, motivate Guyanese at home and abroad for the task of economic transformation, reorient foreign policy, etc. Overall, the next president faces a tough task, made even more difficult by the policies and methods of the Jagdeo administration. I doubt whether the PPP possesses the internal party structure to meet these challenges and more.
Yours faithfully,
Tarron Khemraj
