| By Ralph SeeramHuman beings in general do not like being corrected or criticized, it’s in our nature. We tend to close down or shut the individual out, which in most cases is not beneficial to the individual being criticized. My three-year-old grandson gets like that sometimes. One day this week his school report said that he was in “time out” for not listening to his teacher.I calmly explained to him why he has to listen to his teacher. The following day when I picked him up from school, his first words were “Papa I listened to my teacher; I make you happy,Cheap Jerseys Outlet, Papa, and make my Mommy happy”.Whenever you explain to him what he is doing wrong he would correct his mistakes and would end up saying, “I want to make you happy Papa, I want to make my Mommy happy”. He never left out his mother. He is only three years, but he shows the maturity that he can correct himself of any wrongs pointed out to him.In the political world of Guyana, one wonders if those in the leadership of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) have the maturity of my three-year-old to accept criticism rather than shut down and ignore their critics.Ralph Ramkarran can be considered a grandfather to the PPP. Ramkarran’s father, Boysie,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, was a stalwart in the PPP going back to the 50s. Ralph Ramkarran grew up in the PPP; PPP is in his veins, so one can understand why he is grieving over the current state of the PPP.As a parent or adult, you know what’s right or wrong for a child and you try to guide him or her through life hoping the individual would grow up to be upright citizens, rather than one leading a life of crime. One can understand how agonized Ramkarran must be to see his party descend to the point where it is harbouring a bunch of white collar criminals. Of course he did not put it that way but niceties aside that is what he is saying.Of course he did try internally to have the PPP correct its ways, and we all know what happened. He was forced to sever his relations with the party. When a senior PPP member like Ralph Ramkarran is not allowed to criticize the party, do you expect those in the lower echelons of the party to criticize the leadership? It speaks of the undemocratic nature within the PPP. Those at the top of the “gravy train” are stifling dissent from the rank and file.Like a father or grandson who has gone astray Mr. Ramkarran,Cheap Jerseys China, this week, wrote out a road map for recovery of the PPP,Authentic Nike NBA Jerseys, if they are to survive, if they are to continue as a ruling party. Question is will the PPP remain a stubborn child or will it see the error of its way as pointed out by Ramkarran.He talks of “democratize the PPP more effectively”. I have spoken to a number of PPP members and this was a problem they expressed. Those at the bottom are afraid to criticize those at the top because of retribution. On democratization of the PPP here is what Ralph had to say. “Membership rules must be flexible and must allow for permanent status rather than loss of membership after one year if dues are not paid. All important decisions, including potentially the party leader and the presidential candidate,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, must be made by vote of the members……the Central Committee and Executive Committee must be elected by Congress”.This obviously had to with the way the PPP selected Donald Ramotar as its Presidential candidate, when the present system was used to shut out Ramkarran and Nagamootoo.This is a tall order for the PPP, at least for those who hold power in Government by manipulating the present system. People do not like to give up power and there are those who are feathering their retirement nest egg with public funds, be it kickbacks or whatever illegal means, who will not see it the way the former House Speaker sees it. However Ramkarran is looking at the bigger picture, the survival of the PPP as a whole.The PPP has moved from its roots, more so during the last few years of the Jagdeo regime. The current state of the PPP and its government in my view can be attributed to Jagdeo. The corruption was spawned under his watch. My old departed friend, Guyanese folklorist Wordsworth Mc Andrew, often told me “Yuh can’t ride tiger and dismount”. At the time he was speaking of the PNC government.The PPP finds itself riding the tiger of corruption, and dismounting will present it with a serious problem. To quote Ralph Ramkarran,China Jerseys, “The allegations of corruption and lack of transparency in the country remain among the major weaknesses that the party has failed to confront”. “There are now some reluctant admissions that corruption exists … unless institutional and legal measures follow these admissions, this would be a major continuing source of disappointment among Party supporters”.That is putting it mildly; the entire voting public in Guyana sees the PPP government as corrupt. Do you think the PPP will dismount the tiger? Will the party set up a Commission of Inquiry into corruption and jail those Ministers and contractors caught pocketing taxpayer’s money?Mr. Ramkarran detailed statistics showing the declining support for the PPP at the polls during the past four elections. Some ten months before the last elections I pointed out in an article the possibility of the PPP losing the elections not only because of declining support but also losing the cross over votes. I actually posed this question to then President Jagdeo and Presidential candidate Donald Ramotar during a fund raising campaign in Orlando. I got the impression that both men did not give it much thought, but expressed optimism that they will win the elections. We know what happened.So Mr. Ramkarran has a tall order for the PPP, democratize itself internally, get back to its rank and file and its trade union roots(GAWU etc.) rid itself of corruption, prosecute those found stealing, move beyond its ethnic base to a wider cross section of the Guyanese population “a big and wide tent” as he puts it .Will they listen to Papa? I doubt it very much. I doubt those holding power at the top off the PPP have the maturity of my three-year-old grandson to correct the error of their ways to make the Guyanese voters HAPPY.Like Mc Andrew said, “Yuh can’t ride tiger and dismount”. To dismount you have to make more room at Camp Street.Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: [email protected] |
