Dear Editor,
I must advise at the outset that even though the PPP is still run by an Executive Committee in between Congresses, it is my observed view that the post-1992 PPP leaders have no desire to take Guyana to any communist or socialist system. So what is it that they are trying to promote? It is my observed view that they are hell bent on completing the hundreds of necessary deals to uplift the lives of the Guyanese people economically after failing under the Ramotar term.
Deals like completing the hydro-electric project (AFHP); the transportation link to Brazil, the deep water harbour; the restructuring of the productive sectors to take them up the value chain to the point where they can become more productive; creating greater value and more jobs for the people; and, of course, that specialty hospital, among other things.
This is what distinguishes them from the current PNC-led Granger government. This Granger government has exposed its stripes as the same old PNC that is focused on form rather than substance, and pageantry rather than human progress.
What this Granger government is focused on is reviving Burnham’s words as issued in the Sophia Declaration in the 1970s. This Granger government is a political force still stuck in the past, and does not know how to build the future.
The PPP losing power in 2015 was necessary, because it caused two things:
1. It created the memories of their political humiliation that took them back to their core – Jaganism, (lean, clean and mean administration).
2. It has created the opportunity for the great purge, where the party apparatchiks who served for generations but who are still stuck in the old world are moved out to create room for more youths who are living in the present moment. The PPP in 2020 is expected to have almost all its candidates under 60 years of age, with the majority in their 30s and 40s. That said, history has taught us that the PPP has a natural political strength of about 190,000 solid votes come rain or storm. The PNC, on the other hand, has about 160,000 of those. But the winning force needs 205,000 votes.
The mathematics reveals that the PNC has to hunt for 45,000 votes for victory, which I believe is unachievable with a record like what they have today. The PNC leadership appears lethargic and incompetent, and logged off from the people’s problems. They seem more focused on self-enrichment, with two AFC ministers being reputed to have become billionaires already, and one PNC minister in the Ministry of the Presidency also in that elite group. Additionally, the AFC and WPA are more focused today on fighting each other for the political crumbs, and thus are of no help to the PNC politically. The one thing that is driving the PPP today is “no more humiliation for the PPP”, and thus they were forced by the people to clean up their act.
But where does this leave Bharrat Jagdeo? Well, he was the creator of Ramotar, and must share the blame for the mess the PPP is in today. But what we must never discount is that among the rank and file of that 190,000 voters who are considered at the natural strength of the PPP, he is almost like a demi-god. These 190,000 people know only a Jagdeo can beat a Granger in 2020. Though he has much baggage, he is the most capable of the entire Executive Committee.
But that does not mean that if the CCJ rejects the third-term case, the PPP is finished. They have two other very capable members of the Executive Committee who have the talent and experience to do this job under the guidance of Jagdeo — Gail Teixeira and Anil Nandlall. Frank Anthony is a nice fellow, but he is a political mook when it comes to the national stage. He is seen as a shallow politician who does not have a position on most matters, and that projects him as one with no charisma. Therefore he does not have what it takes to combat in the ring with candidate Granger. Maybe in 10 years’ time.
Respectfully,
Albert Allen