Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter written by Mr Oliver Hinckson, which was published on September 12 in the Stabroek News under the caption ‘There should be a coalition between the AFC and PNC with the presidency rotating.’
In that letter the author stated, “If the PNC ever wants to get back in power they must form a coalition with the AFC, and through the elections remove the PPP by popular vote. The AFC must tell their supporters and the PNC that they will have the presidency for three years at first, then the PNC will have the remaining two years of the term of office.”
I wish to say that even though I respect Mr Hinckson’s position on this controversial issue, I cannot agree with him for a moment since I see that the ruling PPP/C party cannot be defeated through any election coalition of AFC with PNC now or even in the future. Any coalition between the two main opposition parties, the AFC with the PNC will give the ruling PPP/C party a landslide victory at any new elections in Guyana.
The main reason for this is that ethnic voting is alive and well in Guyana even as we speak, and more so, it continues to eat away at the core of this nation. It is a matter of concern which needs to be addressed urgently if we seriously want to see the removal of this incompetent PPP/C regime from office in any new general elections.
Guyana is a completely different country from the rest of the world when it comes to voting. We are not like Trinidad, which although it is a multi-ethnic society, sees people voting on national issues rather than race in elections.
We in Guyana choose ethnicity over issues when it comes to voting and this is a proven fact, which is why the PPP/C has been in power for the last twenty-two years.
I strongly believe that if the majority of our citizens put aside race and addressed the issues of national concern that are affecting us all today, such as the high cost of living, high unemployment rate, high crime rate, poor health care system, poor education, bad governance and mismanagement of our money, etc, we would have seen a change of government long ago.
When the AFC was formed and contested elections in 2006 under its slogan, ‘Vote for Change Not Race,’ everyone was expecting a turning point in terms of ethnic voting. In the end, however, the AFC got six seats, with the majority of their votes coming from Afro-Guyanese communities. There is no doubt that race has been effectively used to construct and sustain the PPP/C government’s hold on power since the 1992 general elections.
When we as Guyanese start using our brains to select a political party that can govern and protect our country in the best interest of all regardless of a party leader’s ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation, then that will bring an end to the PPP in office.
Therefore, we should all join and end ethnic voting at the next elections and vote for progress, betterment and modernization in 2015 where our nation’s motto can stand and present us as One People, One Nation and One destiny once again.
Yours faithfully,
Rayvonne P Bourne
