Presidential candidate of The New Movement (TNM) Dr Asha Kissoon believes that her party is the cure to the political disease that has been plaguing Guyana.
The single mother of a young boy, Kissoon said it was everything she saw wrong in her everyday life that pushed her to enter politics.
“I go to the market to buy greens and I don’t feel safe, I am looking around and wondering if somebody is going to rob me,” she told The Weekend in a recent interview. “I get in a bus and I am not safe. The driver is speeding, music is too loud, the conductor can’t conduct himself properly. I go into my workplace, Sophia Health Centre, and I am scared I can’t keep money on me because we are getting robbed all the time.
“I go into my bosses and I say can you please give me a scholarship and they say no you need to wait your turn or [as] somebody said to me, ‘Do you think this is the PPP?’
“And I realized that our system is so terrible, and nobody has been able to bring about significant improvement. People have been saying they want change, but what kind of change? … It was my general feeling as a citizen of Guyana. Not as a doctor or this high person in society, but me walking in the market, and sitting in the bus and going into the health centre that made me realize that, you know, if I don’t stand up and try to fix this as a normal citizen then nothing can be done,” the 30-year-old presidential candidate said.
Speaking about her party, she said, “It is fresh, youthful; nobody has baggage, nobody has been involved in politics before, young professionals. Everybody is qualified in their own fields and everybody is a professional.” She added that they have doctors, lawyers, businesspersons, farmers just to name a few of the “vast variety of young professionals who have come together.”
A single mother for over six years, Dr Kissoon, who spent eight years in Botswana where her parents worked as teachers, has heard that she is wasting her time. But she believes when one is sincere God opens a way. So far, it has been tremendous as many did not believe TNM would have made it past Nomination Day. Not only has it done so, but it is also part of a historic move with other political parties.
“No one can predict what is going to happen and we are going to try our best. And even if we don’t win this, we are sure we are going to have seats and we will continue our work all the way to the next elections. The difference between our political movement and others is that we have already been doing some of the projects that we have been promising,” she said.
She listed the oil refinery they plan to build in Linden, saying that the funding has already been procured, the location, local content and very soon more information on the project will be released to the media. They also hosted a job fair last year, where free training was given, and jobs were also found for some. She said it is a project they plan to continue after elections.
‘Greatest accomplishment’
Giving an insight as to who she is, Dr Kissoon said, one day, when her son was under a year, she made the decision to become a single mother and she has never looked back.
“Having my son was my greatest accomplishment to date. He is seven years old. He is my joy and he sees me as his all,” she said, but quickly added that she has great support from her mother who steps in when she is busy.
Kissoon said politics was never her “drive or passion” but viewing the political situation and how the country has been on a downward trajectory led her to wanting to have a voice.
“I was like the average man and woman. I would see things going bad and sit down and complain… and then it occurred to me that complaining wasn’t fixing anything so instead of complaining about it, I might as well get up and do something about it,” the young doctor explained.
After meeting with a group of professionals and examining how they could make an impact in Guyana to bring about a change, the idea of a political party came about. “That is how I actually ended up in politics.”
As TNM’s presidential candidate, the young single parent said, she has learnt how capable she is by stepping into the political arena.
She considers herself the head of her family, which is made up of her mom, her young brother and her son. In addition to this responsibility and her job, she is also studying for her master’s degree in Public Health.
Kissoon explained that after her dad passed away, she moved in with her mom as she did not want her living alone since “depression is real, mental health is real so to help her through the stage I stayed with her.”
A member of the Lions Club of Bel Air, Kissoon volunteers on weekends in medical outreaches. “I am amazed at how much I have been accomplishing… so far I have been able to balance it,” she said, referring to her life as a politician and all the other responsibilities that come with her various roles.
As she walks the political journey, Kissoon said she would like to see more done for women. She pointed out that even after so many years women are still being beaten and killed by their partners. She questioned why there are not more places where women can go to seek help and for her what is mainly lacking is the psychological support for women in such circumstances.
“Even though there have been hundreds of persons trained in mental health, health centres are still lacking social workers, still lacking psychological guidance for the population. So definitely that is one of the areas I would like to see built up,” Kissoon said.
She wants to see more women involved in politics and she revealed that her party has a number of women, which for her is positive as traditionally politics was about old men and now there are young women taking a step to play a part in their future.
The presidential candidate said she was also concerned about women not being treated fairly in workplaces because of their gender. As a doctor, she sees people from all levels, and she has heard the complaints of women.
‘There is a possibility’
Asked if she believes her party has a realistic possibility of winning the March 2 elections, Kissoon said she believed there was a possibility since her party has taken the bold move of being part of a joiner list, something that has never been done in Guyana.
TNM, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) last weekend announced that they have joined their lists, which means that their votes will be tabulated together.
“This gives a way better chance of every vote counting, so we do have a good chance now,” a positive Kissoon said.
But even if they do not win, Dr Kissoon explained that TNM’s main purpose is to be a voice for youths as they themselves are a youth-based party with young people at the forefront even though they have elders who will offer advice. She believes that for the past 53 years young people have not been given the opportunity to lead even though promises have been made in the past. She said young people will be on the campaign trail working hard but are not given a real chance to sit in the National Assembly and have their voices heard.
“The New Movement would like youth to have a voice,” she stressed adding that the persons that make up the leadership of the party are below 35.
And while it would have been easier to join one of the two main political parties, Kissoon said she is not happy with what has happened over the past 53 years as for her it made no difference as to whether it was the PPP/C or the PNC because of the race-based politics.
“It is a big deal for me because I don’t support racism. I don’t support sexism. I don’t support any form of abuse… and politics in Guyana sadly has always been related to: I am Indian, or I am Black, and it is very abusive,” she said.
With less than six weeks to Election Day, Kissoon said, TNM has not yet officially launched its campaign since as young people they want it to be different.
“We don’t follow any masses or crowds. We like to lead so when or campaign is launched everybody is going to be like ‘wow we didn’t expect this’,” she said, keeping the launch under wraps saying that “it will be soon.”
TNM is contesting Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 and has teams working in all the regions; the main office is at Lot X D’Urban Street, Wortmanville.
‘Very supportive’
Since coming out as a politician, Kissoon has had no pushback from her relatives. As a matter of fact, she said, they have been very supportive. But while they were happy for her, she said, they did express some concerns about her safety, and they take basic precautions.
The presidential candidate, who is attached to the Sophia Health Centre as a general practitioner, said that her colleagues have also been supportive and have actually applauded her for the move.
“Most of the responses I have had were positive. People were happy about it. Our party in itself is happy because they said if we get through it would be the youngest woman in the world to have crossed this milestone,” she said.
But there have been challenges as she pointed out that men are always the leaders in the political arena and because she is a young woman, some feel she will be too emotional to be taken seriously and someone even said females cry a lot.
“But I see it as strength. Women are born with a strength that pushes them through every situation. Tears don’t mean weakness. They comprise that inner strength. So that [the women being emotional criticism] didn’t deter me at all,” she said.
A resident of Sophia, Kissoon said she also received support from her neighbours and even her patients. She said, sadly, the one thing her neighbours have been asking for is roads because the street in which she lives is in a deplorable state. The candidate said she pointed out to the residents that politics should not be used to give roads because that is their right and “nobody should tell you vote for me and I will give this road.
“I speak to them more about issues, raising Guyana out of poverty, youth training, jobs, education, things like that I try to educate them about,” she said.
In its manifesto, the party talks about improvement of the health sector especially at the health centre level.
“There should actually be health centres and not medical huts as I call them right now. They should at least have a lab, x-ray department, be fully equipped with medication,” she said.
Specialty hospitals are also needed in every region in another ten to 20 years. Agriculture is also a big factor as the party believes it should be the main economic force driving Guyana and they are also big on industrial hemp. The party would also like to see a system where parliamentarians are actually separate from the country’s ministers which can see issues vetted properly. Also, for TNM, two thirds of parliament should agree before anything is passed and if no consensus is reached then civil society, such as judges and representatives from international organisations, should be allowed to vote.
“So, they, as impartial persons in society, can come together and vote,” Kissoon said.
You can read TNM’s manifesto titled ‘A Road Map to Prosperity’ at www.tnmparty.com .
