Ralph Ramkarran

When the US Government under President Bush decided in 1990 that it would support free and fair elections in Guyana, it was the Carter Center that was called upon to act as the midwife for a new era of democracy in Guyana.

I must confess that I have had an ambivalent attitude to ethnicity for most of my life.

Since the restoration of free and fair elections in Guyana, the only election results that have been accepted were those of 1992, even though they, and most other elections since then, were accompanied by violence, particularly after the elections.

In the Gospel according to St Mark, Chapter 10, Verse 25, Jesus is recorded as having said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

In an article for my blog, www.conversationtree.gy, published in last week’s Sunday Stabroek, I took issue with a statement by former President Jagdeo that implied that Cheddi and Janet Jagan lived in luxury.

As expected, the events at Babu John attracted wide attention and media coverage.

This month the PPP celebrates the life of Cheddi Jagan. In preparing to face the electorate, the party will be today invoking his legacy at Babu John.

The responses of the PPP to The Cummingsburg Accord by APNU and the AFC were a declaration by President Ramotar that it is a “farce” and the unleashing of Ms Elisabeth Harper as its prime ministerial candidate.

The Cummingsburg Accord is only the latest in the history of alliances in Guyana’s post-war politics.

The last general and regional elections were characterized by extensive delay in announcing election results and there was an outcry against it.

Working alongside and observing Dr Jagdeo (then Mr Jagdeo) at close range in the PPP for twenty years, I know that he must be enormously tickled at the controversy generated by the court action challenging the presidential two-term limit.

Guyana is in virgin, unexplored, political territory. In various interviews both Opposition Leader David Granger and AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, have indicated that the period of foreplay between their parties is over and consummation is in progress.

The election date has been announced. Because it is just under four months away, the campaign will start slowly.

No matter how often it happens, no matter how much our ears become attuned to the ring of abuse in politics, Guyanese must never allow themselves to become accustomed to it or to be entrapped by it, and to succumb to the temptation of silence.

In a recent advertisement, shown above, the National Independent Party (NIP), led by Mr Saphier Husain-Subedar, until recently known as Mr Saphier Husain, announced its intention to contest the upcoming elections.

If the PPP/C is returned with only a plurality of the votes at the upcoming elections as in 2011, it could adopt the sensible course of inviting the opposition to join it in a coalition government.

The electorate will be called upon in 2015 to decide the political shape of Guyana for the immediate future.

A constitution defines the basic laws, structures for governance and rights and responsibilities under which a society is organized.

For some who oppose the PPP, an alliance of opposition political parties to contest elections has always been a prime objective.

The notion in 1950 by the leaders of the PPP that freedom will bring justice has not materialized.