Guyana Observer News

The night of the generals may be coming to an end

Thursday, 11 February 2010

By Freddie Kissoon

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The statement by a PPP leader that Guyana should reintroduce voting for Guyanese outside of the country is the first expression to date that there are headaches in the PPP more severe than the ones that stopped Michael Jackson from continuing one of his sellout concerts. It is the first Freudian display of fear by the PPP, meaning that in the subconscious of the Freedom House oligarchs, there is the trepidation that the elections could be lost. So far, no other hierarchical member of Freedom House has endorsed this leader’s plea but this leader, Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, is a strategic player in that hierarchy and his public thoughts at some level are indicative of what the PPP is thinking.

The demand for the return of the ballot to Diaspora Guyanese is a taboo subject based on its sordid past. For any politician from any party to talk about its restoration is bound to create controversy. As a contender for the PPP’s coveted prize in 2011, it had to take careful deliberation on Mr. Ramkarran’s part. He had to be aware of the implications of his embarkation. But it also had to take careful deliberation in another area on the part of Mr. Ramkarran – the dim electoral prospects of the PPP. My point, therefore, is that Mr. Ramkarran may have issued his declaration as a deus ex machina; a way of trying to save the election for the PPP.
Indeed the electoral horizon has never been so murky for the PPP since 1957. The fulcrums of the PPP are dissolving in the acid of reality. Electricity generation debacle has exhausted the patience of Berbicians. It is doubtful that the electricity thing can be rectified before the general elections; the money just isn’t there to run the GPL.
Just in case you didn’t know; where I live in Turkeyen, blackouts have returned. My Wednesday article almost didn’t make it to the press. In the middle of typing it, blackouts came at a point where the editor’s deadline was creeping up. I cussed out this government out loudly when the disruption came. No nation should endure this hardship.
If there is any reason for us, Guyanese not to vote for the PPP, it is the confusion brought to our lives by the lack of electricity supply. How can a government be in control for over 17 years and cannot guarantee electricity to its citizens. Tuesday morning I went to pay my GPL bill on Middle Street. The line was long because there was only one cashier.
Guysuco is another Michael Jackson type headache. Guysuco thinks it is fooling the Guyanese people when its press release stated that some sections of the audience were disruptive because of alcohol when Guysuco top brass met sugar workers last week in Berbice. This was not a true picture.
Sugar workers heckled, berated and insulted the bigwigs at the front table. Unfortunately for the PPP, two of its main election campaign figures were on the receiving end of the castigations – Ramotar and Robert Persaud. The PPP is worried crazy about the rumblings among sugar workers. Their votes are not assured this time.
Violent robberies are driving Berbicians mad. No promise of forensic laboratory and offer of $19 billion for the police in the budget will mollify Berbicians. Crime is out of control in Guyana. We are slowly coming to a point where the business class may stage another day of closure as it did some years ago to protest runaway crime.
Then there is the registration record. The statistics show a comparative slowdown among East Indians. The youth vote is not guaranteed. Gone are the days when old Indian folks would badger their young children about “Blaakman.”
Those kids today hardly have dinner with their parents. They are on the internet chatting with their friends about Obama, Michael Jackson and saving the world
A PPP victory doesn’t look possible and this may drive Freedom House to desperate measures. My definite take is that there will be a resort to episodes that will invoke the specter of race. Only a myopic observer will discount this possibility. It has always been a trump card for the PPP and is brutally and cruelly played out at the bottom house meeting. Nothing should be discounted.
The possessive mentality of all (yes, all) PPP leaders will lead them to commit grievous wrongdoing to stay in power. These people will not accept that they cannot be in charge of this country. Come to 2011, we should give them a rude awakening.

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