I am replying to the Stabroek News May 9, 2011 letter, “The PPP appears to be worried about low voter turnout among its traditional support base”. Emile Mervin, who enjoys the comfort of a New York lifestyle, sits cozily by his fire place with nothing to do but to erroneously pontificate on issues in Guyana’s politics. I find his newest product on the press market amusing, in that he perceives a concern for voter turnout, to be as irrelevant a variable as he is. If Mervin does not understand that a genuine concern of any political party is its support base, then he does not understand politics. Any candidate from any political party would have this concern, and naturally, would want to address his constituency to ensure their full support, come voting day. Securing one’s voting base is a valid concern. President Obama’s largest support base was college students in 2008, and he went to extreme lengths to utilize and incorporate the new media as part of his campaigning strategy, as this was necessary in order to mobilize this group of voters.
Massaging your support base is of critical significance to any presidential candidate. Only a very unintelligent politician would fail to do so. And let us not jump on that bandwagon of ethnic voting, as this, I believe, is just a cop out. In our proportional representation parliamentary system, a 51% majority vote is mandatory to form a government. The Bureau of Statistics Population Distribution by Nationality, Background / Ethnicity, Guyana: 2002 confirms that 43.45% of Guyanese are East Indians, 30.20% are Africans, 16.73% are Mixed, and 9.16% are Amerindians. Whether these critics like it or not, and whether they accept it or not, the PPP cannot, has not and will never win an election solely with traditional East Indian votes. There is cross-ethnic voting, however minimal or significant it may be. Emile Mervin really needs a new hobby. It seems he is grasping at straws these days to push a weakling AFC.