THE fallacies that abound in the entry, “Majority won’t vote for the PPP/C-poll suggests”, are too many to comment on, but for Mr. Tarron Khemraj and company, who always find the ‘doings’ of Stabroek News most convenient, I do have a few things to say.First, we all need to accept the reality of the politics in Guyana. It is played out basically in two factions. The sordid pre-1992 game was kept alive, for a long time, only because there was nothing like a ‘fair and free’ election. The turn took place in 1992, and it is easy to note, via succeeding elections, that the PPP/C is really the people’s choice. This cannot be disputed, as the party has never lost a single election in Guyana, irrespective of who the leader happened to be – from the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan to the incumbent Mr. Donald Ramotar.

I note that the article is saying that “a poll of over 1,500 Guyanese, last year, suggests that almost 50% will vote against the incumbent Donald Ramotar administration at the upcoming May 11th polls.” HAH and LOL!
The political climate has changed drastically since that time. In fact, over the last six months or so, Guyanese have seen an unbelievable side of the Opposition. First, the Opposition forced a prorogation and then could not handle it. The two major forces therein, A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) wanted to press home a no—confidence motion and we all know this meant that fresh elections would have ensued. Now the prorogation could have facilitated some meaningful dialogues, but these two parties simply defied President Ramotar, who true to the constitution, called for the elections, and which we are about to go into.
We have in Guyana a most unyielding Opposition, bent on simply ‘opposing’ and not amenable to even further the progress of some important projects and bills, in Guyana, and for all Guyanese (Amaila, Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion, Specialty Hospital, passing the AML/CTF Bill). This poll is obsolete in many ways, and I cannot fathom what Stabroek News and Mr. Tarron Khemraj are getting out of this entry. Maybe they are jointly trying to fool the electorate, or it is an attempt to engender some fear. Things have changed and no wonder we are seeing a kind of desperate reaction from the coalition. This survey then is not relevant.
I point out too that the People’s National Congress reform (PNC/R) has again shown its true colours – seeming fixing of its internal voting at the party’s last congress, the falling out of the Lindenerrs because of the high-handedness of Mr. David Granger, and the mistreatment and relegation of Ms. Vanessa Kissoon. I add here too that out of AFC, Guyanese are seeing some strange and suspicious things.
We have Mr. Moses Nagamootoo’s embracing of APNU, really the PNC, and what this shows is that he is a man with no moral scruples. For years, he fought this vile force of the PNC, and now he is embracing all that it did and now stands for. His desire/lust/dying crave for personal power has destroyed his moral fabric. He did promise the coalition some 11,000 Indian votes, but all of a sudden, I am noticing a return to the PPP/C of those who were behind Mr. Nagamootoo. Let’s note too that the AFC itself is feeling the terrible aftermath of this Nagamootoo betrayal. At least three top leaders have exited, and in doing so, they have exposed the crass and suspicious nature of even Khemraj Ramjattan.
So, what the economist Dr. Tarron Khemraj reported from his findings in “Development Watch” and passed on to Stabroek News cannot be valid now. The whole thing, coming now, after so much has happened, smacks of some form of evil.
I close by reminding all Guyanese that up to now, the coalition has offered no plan on how to make Guyana move forward, as it has been doing for quite some time now. All that the people are getting are things related to ‘who will be what, and who will get what.’ To the Stabroek News and Dr. Tarron Khemraj, I say that Guyanese know better.
ATTIYA BAKSH