Georgetown: “Frustration is so deep that the venerable Yesu Persaud advocates the abolition of Politicians! “[However] few dare to speak out, like Yesu Persaud, and most dutifully cast their ballot for their ethnic kin at election time to ensure that ‘the other side doesn’t get on top…” – Ramkarran
He joined the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) some 57 years ago, when the two main ethnic groups were locked in violent strife.
Now, former PPP executive member Ralph Ramkarran is joining calls for an end to politics practised along racial lines to heal this still-festering wound of ethnic division.
Ramkarran, who now leads the recently formed party, A New and United Guyana, (ANUG) says that the solution lies in a political system of governance in which both ethnic parties share office and the development and implementation of policy.
Commenting on his blog, Conversation Tree, the Attorney-at-law and Senior Counsel said that it is mainly the political parties that have benefitted from ethnic division.
“Guyana has had the PNC in office for 33 years and the PPP for 23 years. While our economic fortunes have varied, Guyana remains largely poor, crime ridden, corruption soaked, economically undeveloped, a producer of five raw materials, and divided by a perpetual ethno-political struggle.
“The next round of elections will see a heightened competition for ethnic power and the parties offering much the same as they did in 2015.”
“A majority of the Guyanese people continues to place their fate in the hands of their ethnic parties, only to have the losers disappointed when elections are held.”
Alluding to the political deadlock and the failure of politicians to resolve it, the former Speaker noted that many Guyanese are in a state of despair.
“Frustration is so deep that the venerable Yesu Persaud advocates the abolition of politicians! No one needs to be poor, he says.”
He noted that many would agree.
“[However] few dare to speak out, like Yesu Persaud, and most dutifully cast their ballot for their ethnic kin at election time to ensure that ‘the other side doesn’t get on top.”
Further, Ramkarran said that few advocate that the ethno-political issue can be addressed in a mutually respectful atmosphere by a political system that encourages the solution to such problems.
However, in the midst of the debate and fight for power, the lawyer noted the dire need to address the issues of ethno-political division.
“The parties have no incentive to resolve our problems because ethnic power is better than no power at all.
“Over the past few weeks, many persons have called for discussions, mediation, a national unity government, foreign assistance, sanctions by foreign countries and other measures to resolve the immediate political problems.
“None of these have materialized because they cannot penetrate the ethno-political haze that surrounds our political parties, which reflect the ethnic realities of our society. Those realities are that each ethnic group blames the other for much that is wrong in the society.
“The argument is that if that ethnic group would only change its behaviour, then everything would be fine. We know that the reality is quite different but that this ethnic-political perception will continue to persist, as it has since the elections of 1957, until something is done about it.”
Offering his views on a solution, Ramkarran says that the ideal situation would be where, “the major ethnic groups will have a seat at the table and a voice in how the distribution takes place.
“Such a system will not eliminate ethno-political adherence. Indeed, it is virtually impossible to do so. But a consensual system will direct ethnicity in politics into constructive channels.
“Such a system will have to be determined by the people of Guyana. But to get to the stage where both political parties commit to it will require a massive effort by the Guyanese people not only to persuade them to put the plan on their agenda at election time but to implement it after the elections are over and the pressure is off.”
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