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Jul 24, 2016 Letters
Dear Editor,
I would like to contribute to the debate currently taking place in KN’s letter columns about the need for a third political party for the 2020 General Elections. I will say little of myself choosing to remain anonymous because I respect the leadership of both the PNC and AFC. I am a businessman of mixed ancestry – mostly Indian but a touch of Amerindian and a little bit of redness. I know some of these leaders very well. I have known Mr. Robert Corbin a long time now and it is because of not wanting to hurt his feelings, I wouldn’t sign my name.
Some of your contributors have made out a strong case for a third party with the names of Freddie Kissoon and Nigel Hughes to be the front candidates. My contribution here is to look at both situations, namely the need for the party and the appropriateness of the names. I disagree with all previous writers about their reason for wanting a third party. They all blame the failure of the AFC to remain what it was and what it stood for. The AFC cannot be blamed for the failure of anything.
People want a third party because they want to see competition taken to the PPP and PNC. The AFC did that when it was the AFC. In people’s mind Guyana has two parties – PPP and the Coalition. They do not see the coalition as made of several parties. Once the AFC went with the PNC, which Mr. Corbin made possible and for which he was never given recognition and deserved praise, a third party disappeared from the psychology of the masses. With a lackluster performance (for which Mr. Corbin would be annoyed at me for saying) by the coalition, people want to see a wedge between the PPP and PNC.
There is nothing the AFC can do to change that perception. The AFC got lost in the big umbrella of the coalition. It would make no sense for the AFC to go into the 2020 election by itself because by then people would see it as trying to survive. And if you do have a third party by 2019, it would eclipse the stardom of the AFC, assuming that the AFC still has stardom. I will end my discussion on this section by saying boldly that I do not think the AFC is the cause for people wanting a third force. It was bound to happen once the AFC lost its identity in umbrella politics.
I now come to the leadership of the third force. Letter-writers and some influential people have chosen Freddie Kissoon as presidential candidate and Nigel Hughes to fill the Prime Minister slot. Freddie’s name is a big surprise. I think no one in this country would deny that Freddie Kissoon has done what no Indian has come even close to doing in modern Guyanese politics going back to the thirties onwards. No Indian activist has crossed the racial barricade as Freddie did and still does. Black people like and trust him. Freddie is admired throughout Guyana but he is not made of politician’s stuff.
Most people see Freddie as a lonely dreamer with a philosophical bible in his hands going around the world trying to change it. Such people are good humans who are trustworthy and caring but they will not make good politicians. Certainly not Freddie Kissoon and knowing him, he would be the first to admit that. Nigel Hughes is a large figure of acceptance in Guyana and I cannot see a third party coming off the ground without his face on its cloth. The man is a man for all season. The problem the third force has is that it will have to find an Indian presidential candidate that could pull Black votes. Freddie is the only one that fits the bill. But since he is out of the picture, it creates a big void. The real purpose of my letter is to suggest some names. I looked around and there aren’t many.
I could think of only two credible Indian names; people of quality and integrity. One is Major Joe Singh. The other is Dr. Janet Bulkan. I would bat for Ms. Bulkan. Through family connections, I know her. This is an intellectual woman who would make a fine president. There is still time for Dr. Bulkan to make up her mind. I hope Mr. Hughes can persuade her.
Patriotic Guyanese
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‘ I would bat for Ms. Bulkan. Through family connections, I know her. This is an intellectual woman who would make a fine president. There is still time for Dr. Bulkan to make up her mind. I hope Mr. Hughes can persuade her’
Back to square one
It would mean nothing, not a scrap was learn, only the usual good life for the upper crust chattering class that will always survive even in North Korea