Dear Editor,
There is a saying that old habits die hard and this latest situation with the colour scheme of the APNU+AFC proves that saying true. Last week I was out of the country on assignment when a post surfaced in my Facebook account about the colour remarks made by Parliamentarian Priya Manickchand. At the time I did not know what was said and who had said what. What I suspected from the post, however, was that some PPP person had made reference to the yellow and green that has so hypnotically and universally became associated with the APNU+AFC coalition.
In total ignorance of the facts about anything that Ms Manickchand had said, I replied to my friend’s post by asking what is so wrong with including some red in the colour scheme of the coalition, especially at the national level. Well, the issue has now taken on a life of its own, with one of the dailies using their graphic piece to poke fun at Ms Manickchand’s remarks.
Editor, I write this letter with a very heavy heart because even in this little dust-up I see how very far we are from achieving any kind of protracted and meaningful social cohesion. I have been watching the remarks and comments on Facebook and other social media forums and they tell a sad and unpatriotic story. Even government ministers and respectable, entrenched backers of the coalition have jumped on the bandwagon in using this issue as a means to further divide us.
We all know Priya Manickchand’s attitude and outspokenness towards certain things. However, Ms Manickchand and her PPP party represent about half of the voters in Guyana. And whether we believe that those voters are archaic in their views, they are still Guyanese and their feelings matter. What Ms Manickchand verbalized is obviously what forms the sentiment in the minds of a significant number of her supporters. So poking fun and decrying Ms Manickchand is in essence belittling those who also share her sentiments.
The coalition and its die-hard supporters might not like Ms Manickchand but in the interest of social cohesion, should we not look past the surface of her comments and read between the lines? Could the coalition members not see that this issue ‒ as simple as it might be ‒ could have been used as a stepping stone towards fostering social cohesion? What could be so antithetical and obnoxious in including some red and black in the green and yellow decor? What is so unconscionable to the supporters of another colour, wanting to see more of that colour at the national level?
The PPP did a Red House in honour of their founder-leader Dr Cheddi Jagan. There is no Green House or Yellow House in honour of the PNC’s founder, Forbes Burnham. That does not mean that because the PPP might have done something biased in their interest that the APNU+AFC coalition has to now follow suit. There was never any talk from the PPP administration of social cohesion. It is the current administration that has coined and is pushing for this national unity, by even creating a ministry in this regard. It therefore behooves the supporters of this coalition to be more sympathetic to the feelings of the supporters of the opposition. Maybe the PPP leadership is not interested in any kind of social cohesion, however, those who say they are interested in fostering this cohesion must never let an opportunity to build bridges slip by. It is ok to talk the talk. These occasions prove those who are prepared to walk the walk.
Editor, if this latest dust-up created by Priya Manickchand, was a test for the supporters of the coalition on fostering social cohesion, they failed miserably. Further, if I had any influence in the planning for the upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations, I would immediately hire a designer to beautifully weave red, burgundy, scarlet and black into the tapestry of the beautiful yellow and green colour scheme. I would deliberately and profoundly include the colours of the other half of this beautiful Guyana.
I would do it because I honestly desire the benefits of a socially cohesive Guyana. I would do it because I love President Granger’s idea of social cohesion, and more so, I would do it because I love my country. But alas, I am neither a politician nor a party member. I have not been bitten with the bug of divisive politics and systemic disdain for others. I am independent in my thoughts and desires and maybe that is what has me where I am. I would like to bring this kind of objective discussion into the administrative and governmental discourses in Guyana and that’s another reason I am asking the folks in the Wortmanville/ Werk-en-Rust areas to consider me in the upcoming LGE.
Yours faithfully,
Wendell Jeffrey, Pastor
Independent Candidate
Wortmanville-Werk-en-Rust Constituency
