Dear Editor,

Yesterday, I outlined some general features of the populism and linked those to the political conduct of Kaieteur News’ publisher Mr. Glen Lall.

You may recall that I acknowledged that Mr. Lall is a “talented performer.” I would like to expand on this point with specific reference to the strategy and style of politics associated with populists in general, combined with specific references to developments in Guyana.
Let us begin with Ray Daggers, that is, if you remember him. Only a few months ago he engaged in typical populist stunt by a so-called walk across the country to show how much he is cares.

As it turned out, no one else cared, and the event that was supposed to catapult him into the political arena, ended in ignominy. He then tried a protest stunt in front of OP but was swiftly relocated, and that effort imploded.
What Daggers attempted to do is typical of populists. They usually have no social base and because of that they rely on a series of stunts mostly to gather attention, and then hopefully to transform that attention into political capital.
They rely heavily of the media for these stunts. Many of you will recall that KN carried Ray Daggers live and tried desperately to make him into a known quantity.

In a few days from now, another populist stunt will be attempted. People are being asked to stay home. The objective? Well according to Kaieteur News Blunt page, they want a revolution (KN 7/26/2023).

As a political scientist, I know something about revolutions. I can assure that while Georges Sorel’s theory of spontaneity has a great deal of credibility, July 31, 2023, does not qualify. For spontaneity to trigger action, there must be a genuine movement grounded in grievances that have been left unattended so much so that the very legitimacy of government is in question. We cannot say that about Guyana.
The PPP/C government has demonstrated that it has high legitimacy with the masses. The PPP/C leadership from President Ali, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, to the in-tune cabinet members who have been traversing this country day in and day out, and then on to the thousands and thousands of PPP activists at the regional, township and village levels, have been hard at work.

The people are being listened to; have been listened. In contradistinction to populist who are like kangaroos that jump around all day, the PPP/C have had countless outreaches in all regions in this country. I have myself been on at least two dozen of them in the past year. It is real. The people have a voice.

One thing you should know is that populist leaders and especially authoritarian populists generally do not belong to political parties. There is a reason for that. When you are in a political party, you must be accountable to at least senior members of the party. Right now, Mr. Norton of the PNC/R is going through a challenging time precisely because he belongs to the PNC/R and must respond to issues such as signing blank cheques.

The PPP leadership must also respond to the party Executive Committee and to the membership. Populism, however, is based on one man who thinks he knows it all. He is accountable to no one. The whole thing is a one man show.
Instead of a political party with rules and regulations, combined with norms and structured expectations, the populist man behaves like a king, a king with divine rights as in the Middle Ages.

Entertainer populism built around stunts will disappoint the very people who are supposed to benefit from the good works of the supposedly Blessed One. This is because populists depend on stunts, rather than hard work.
Yours respectfully,
Dr. Randolph Persaud