Dear Editor,
The PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee has complained publicly that the PPP was not invited to be part of the planning of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, although Vincent Alexander, the point man for the ruling coalition, has said otherwise. At any rate, there is no PPP representation on the committee organizing the celebration. But the pitfall associated with this can still be avoided if the leaders of the two major parties and leaders of various ethnic groups were to put aside their differences and come together in a national meeting and agree on the appointment of a joint committee of non-politicians to organize the celebrations within Guyana. The same should also be done with regard to the composition of a committee organizing celebrations in the major geographical locations of the diaspora.
In the US based diaspora, it is noted that Rickford Burke has been appointed chair of the committee to celebrate the Golden Jubilee with some 141 members. Indian-Guyanese point out that Mr Burke is an African-nationalist and there are no equivalent Indian or Chinese or Portuguese or Amerindian nationalists on the committee to give it balance. In addition, they say the committee is not ethnically reflective of the composition of the population. Programmes organized by that committee are not likely to draw the attendance of non-PNC supporters.
President Granger speaks of racial healing and harmony in his anniversary pitched messages at home and to the diaspora. But it is all mere words not followed by strong action, as the committees the regime appoints or supports are not reflective of the population. Ethnic healing can only come about with the appointment of balanced committees of true representatives of the racial groups, not ethnic tokenism as is being promoted. There should have been PPP and APNU+AFC co-chairs in Guyana and an Indian-African co-chair wherever diaspora celebrations are planned. There should have been an equal number of supporters of both the government and the opposition. This is the only way to show a commitment to racial harmony and unity. Anything else is a farce and will be rejected by non-PNC supporters.
Leaving out the PPP from the celebration will not bring harmony. Ignoring the PPP because it has refused to send a member to the planning committee will not bring unity.
The biggest challenge is to unite the hearts of the people of the various racial groups through a national reconciliation process. And what better way than to have both major races and other groups fairly represented in a planning committee. The country can no longer afford to have one or more ethnic groups of people treated as second-class citizens. And it is not proper for the parties or ethnic leaders or their supporters to continue to accuse each other of ethnic wrongdoing. All political parties and ethnic leaders who governed this country must look at themselves and meditate on their role and look towards a brighter future for the nation as it celebrates 50 years of independence. The parties must preach and embrace love, peace, repentance, compassion, reconciliation and unity if the country is to move forward with development and overcome so many social and political challenges.
In fact, to counter the APNU+AFC planned celebrations, plans are already afoot by PPP support groups and Indian organizations in the diaspora to celebrate the Golden Jubilee anniversary. It is not too late for the ruling APNU+AFC establishment to call a meeting between the leaders of the coalition and PPP to appoint a joint committee to organize festivities in Guyana and abroad with co-leaders from both parties with fair representation of all ethnic groups. This can be done if Granger and Nagamootoo act magnanimously and telephone Jagdeo and Rohee to hold an emergency meeting on the issue.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
