Dear Editor,
As the PPP congress comes to a close on Sunday in Port Mourant, the whole assembly will sing in unison the words, “To keep the red flag flying,” which will be repeated more times than the words, “Oh, beautiful Guyana.” This sums up the mind-set of those who control the PPP today ‒ Keep the red flag flying. Editor, the only red flags flying in Guyana are in front of Hindu residences, because communism and its red flag are dead and gone forever and ever, and the leaders of the PPP do not see it. In political terms, red flags are not what one wants to wave because, as in bullfighting, it only angers the opposition and results in exactly what is happening in Guyana, gridlock and anger in Parliament and no relief for our citizens from the political chaos.
So, Editor, what we are faced with is no change in attitude with their inflexible approach like demoting and severing Ralph Ramkarran who would bring votes to the PPP, while promoting and pushing to the forefront Mr Mustapha, a man who lost votes for the PPP in Berbice.
There is no change when we see Mr Anil Nandilall, our Attorney General, picketing Parliament (of course, wearing a red tie) and sending a message to us which has its own meaning and which only we, the citizens, can understand; there is no change in the political dissections of the important economic and social matters which face this nation. These are just mantras of promises and more promises while the PPP’s own supporters continue to migrate out of this country ‒ go look at the passport office and the US embassy.
There is no change in guiding the PPP back to the tenets of President Cheddi’s vision of lean, clean and open governance, just mantras about how great Jagan was and what he accomplished and that his guidance and principles still exist, when the citizens, even those who voted for them in the last election, know differently, since they experience the daily truths of life under this regime and understand that many principles of Jagan have been pushed aside.
Editor, the PPP Congress is not a convention with a democratic purpose; instead, it has become a rubber stamp for unilateral power at the apex of the PPP’s triangle, a direct slap in the face of Jagan’s legacy, because Jagan believed that the PPP’s triangle should have power at the base and not at the apex.
The delegates have become rubber stamps for those at the helm and that in itself, is the main factor why the PPP is losing support among the masses ‒ the regular folks always trusted and loved Jagan because he always involved the base of the party. But Congress will close with the mantra of “To keep the red flag flying,” and as the delegates and observers depart, nothing will have changed.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
