Dear Editor,
ONE of the Hindu religious texts, the Bhagavad Gita, remains one of the most profound learning tools for many famous international characters, including former US President Barack Obama, former President of India, Abdul Kalam, the America-born Jewish theoretical physicist, Robert Oppenheimer, the Indian poet Rabindra Tagore, the 1913 Nobel prize winner, and many other scientists and philosophers from all parts of the globe and from different generations. Albert Einstein always carried a copy with him. He said: “When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow.”

How often we hear: “Politics is not for me”; “Politics is a dirty game”; “In everything, there is politics”; “We see everything with a political lens”; etc. The Bhagavad Gita teaches, “we may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in us.”

As one commentator wrote, “Every society requires politics in the sense of a system for administration. Within such a system, unprincipled people frequently appropriate and misappropriate power. Their unsavoury actions can make people averse to politics. Nonetheless, even if people stay uninterested in politics, politics will still be interested in them – the prevailing political system will continue to affect them.”
The PPP held its Congress in May month and created circumstances which other political parties tried to copy but found that the conditions were placed on too high a pedestal. Even the critics couldn’t contradict the election process and the Party’s choice of the cheerful, charismatic, and classy Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, was automatically elected unopposed as their presidential candidate for the 2025 General Elections. The PPP’s legacy of transparency, like honesty, remains unhindered, untainted, and unadulterated.

In contrast, APNU held an election on June 5th and Vincent Henry, the leader of the Guyana Action Party, claims to be the new Chairman for the Opposition Coalition parties. The PNC does not recognise him and stated that the election was, “unauthorised, null and void.” As such, Aubrey Norton claims that he is still the Chairman. “It wasn’t a case that we wanted to get rid of the leader of the PNC. It was something that we were knocking on the door for some time,” Henry said. The chair is being rotated. The question of ‘fairness,’ like equality, becomes questionable. A travesty in comedy?

The AFC held its Conference in June and had its internal election (selection?). Max Beerbohm wrote, “Caricature is the delicious art of exaggerating, without fear or favour, the peculiarities of this or that human body, for the mere sake of exaggeration.” The AFC, far from being fond, make fun of the Guyanese population. In 2015, The AFC, then the opposition, had promised Guyanese that they would not close down the sugar estates. After wooing the votes of the Berbicians in 2015, the AFC took the canecutters’ cutlasses and stabbed them in the back. As expected, Khemraj Ramjattan now has a face without a place with the party and poor Sherod Duncan, is now in the dungeon, would you pity him?

Give a man a long rope and he will hang himself. Now, a man with one foot richly buried deeply in the oil and the other foot deciding if Guyana’s soil is fertile is the leader after resigning from the Party in 2017. For 20 silver pieces, Judas Iscariot sold out Christ and became the most notorious traitor. The man who sold out the rights of our birth land has returned to the scene of the crime and is now the General Secretary.

The man who received expensive gifts at the expense of poor Guyanese and left the Demerara Bridge hanging in midair is now the Chairman. The other Executive is another one who has personal stake and also, the power to remove any barriers to cross lucrative borders. Caricature can be described as ‘putting the face of a joke upon the body of a truth,’ according to Bohun Lynch.

A crucial comment which colours the concerns of Guyanese over “dead meat.” Decency, like respect, cannot be bought or given but must be sought and earned. Guyanese say, “yu get what yu deserve.” The man who is yet to learn the diplomatic art of shaking hands, has returned to lead the PNC party. Was it a circus or a Congress when the PNC held its holiday weekend parody? A commonality combined with comedy and cartoon boxes offered a tapestry of burlesque. After a five-day of hiatus, the choice of a 15-member Executive body had remained inconclusive. Is the number five synonymous with ‘finagling’ for the PNC? Even Forbes begins with the letter “F”.
They squatted for five months after the election in office in 2020. They wanted 155 days to recount less than 500,000 votes. They wanted to bisect and dissect bodies to determine the half of 65.

Two candidates for the leadership position smelled the rat, chucked in the towel and deserted the sinking ship in frustration. At the end of almost a week, the counting (juggling or gambit?) revealed that the Executive excluded risky threats! A Burnham/Hoyte imitation?

At the 18th Biennial Congress, Norton had claimed that the election processing system was manipulated in order to guarantee Granger’s return as Leader. “The problems emerged because of the manipulation of the process to ensure the re-election of the incumbent leader…I submit that the problems that emerged at the congress must be placed squarely at the feet of the General Secretary and party leadership,” Norton told reporters. Tasting one’s medicine always leaves a bitter taste!

Pope Francis was a guest speaker at the recently concluded G7 meeting in Italy. He declared, “Many people believe politics is a distasteful word, often due to the mistakes, corruption and inefficiency of some politicians — not all of them, some. There are also attempts to discredit politics, to replace it with economics or to twist it to one ideology or another. But the world cannot function without healthy politics and, effective progress toward “universal fraternity and social peace” requires a sound political life.”

As one of the contesting candidates confessed, “How can we lead a nation if we cannot even lead ourselves with dignity and respect? The answer is clear, we cannot.” The PNC has concluded and conceded that, they are not fit to lead this country. When dignity and integrity are lost, man can no longer differentiate between humans and other creatures. On the other hand, the PPP/C remain virtuous, vigil and visionary with President Ali as a veracious leader of Guyana. President Ali is well tutored and guided because he is versed in the teachings of all the scriptures.

Yours respectfully,

Jai Lall