Dear Editor,
Looking at the results of past elections you can only draw one conclusion and that is `The People are Winning.’ I have provided a table below that shows the total number of votes for parties winning more than 1,000 votes in an election since 1992. The table clearly shows that since the AFC came on the scene the number (and percentage) of people who moved away from the two mainstream parties increased dramatically. The reason for this is clear; people were willing to support a strong party that was not race-based. They also had faith in the AFC leadership; Hughes, Ramjattan, Trotman and later Nagamootoo.
The question today is whether people moved to the AFC looking for an advocate but still wanted the PPP in power (meaning keeping the PNC out). The answer will be known after May 11. However, the biggest victory the people gained so far was to make the PPP a minority government in 2011. This gave them a chance to see if the PPP would have changed its corrupt ways after being a minority government. But continued underhand dealings by the current PPP leadership have clearly shown that they have disgraced the party of Cheddi Jagan.
I would like to encourage the block of independent voters to continue doing what they have been doing and stick with the AFC under the coalition. You have the power to kick race-based voting to the curb forever. Do not fear Granger. If he wins because of a multi-race backing then he should see this as a chance in a lifetime to be the best president ever. And if he messes up; vote him out the next time around. You can only make decisions based on present circumstances and come May 11 that decision should be clear; vote for the coalition.
Yours faithfully,
Vijay Puran