Dear Editor
On the 5th May, the UK held a referendum to decide on whether an Alternative Voting (AV) system is preferred to the current First Past the Post system. The referendum was one of the agreed terms to the formation of the UK coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
Essentially the AV system works by allowing voters to number the candidates in order of preference 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. If the candidate with the most votes gets less than 50% of the total votes, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and his or her second preference votes are allocated to the respective candidates. If this results in one candidate getting more than 50% votes, he or she is the winner. If not, the process continues until one candidate gets the required 50% . A progressive democracy operates by a process of self analysis to try to achieve a fairer electorial system which hopefully reflects the will of the people. The British electorate have however rejected the AV electoral system by a 70-30% majority. The Liberal Democrats faced a backlash losing seats in local government councils.
Leadership is based on values and there are no better values than that taught by a mother to her child such as love, kindness, respect. A political party based on these family values would certainly get my vote. However accepting this is a very naive and somewhat utopian suggestion, politicians from all persuasions are invited to a family picnic on Mothering Sunday today to meet the good people of Berbice at Bush Lot Farm Cricket Ground, Corentyne. They can all reflect on the values taught to them by their mothers, presuming they were not test tube babies, whilst the cricket match is taking place. Access to the ground is granted in my late mother, Anne Kennard Drepaul’s name.
So who will win the Guyana elections this year? Will it be the old mare ‘Tribal Politics’ or the new colt ‘Will of the People ‘. Good luck to all the riders and horses. See you at the finishing post for mauby and cassava pone.
Yours faithfully,
Robert S. Drepaul
