Dear Editor,
Guyana’s election has produced both a challenge and an opportunity for the political elite in the country. Put simply it is time for some mature, grown up politics like we practise in the developed world.
President Ramotar and the PPP need to remind themselves they have not ‘lost’ any election, merely a few seats. If they are to govern well then they need to be a national party with national interests. They also need quickly to slough off some of the vile excesses of the latter days of the Jagdeo regime. Nobody voted for those. Ramotar has it in him to be the Churchill or Attlee of Guyana leading the country to peace. APNU needs to realise they lost the election and lost it fairly. They need to stop whingeing and move on to constructive opposition, supporting the government where they think they are right and vice versa. David Granger is one of the smartest cookies in Guyana. I know; I’ve worked for him. Time to show it David. AFC need to be aware of their fulcrum pivotal position and use it well to ensure better governance and a better Guyana. They have much power by default. Used well it can be for the good as this writer saw Khemraj Ramjattan demonstrate during the reading of the Broadcasting Bill in the last Parliament. He stayed and contributed when the PNC walked out. More of that.
All parties have something to gain from constructive dialogue and sensible opposition. Let us hope for the sake of the country they grab it. The time for yaa-boo racialised politics is over. Grow Up Guyana. Jagdeoism is dead, long live the new mature reality.
Yours faithfully,
John ‘Bill Cotton’ Mair
England
