Third Force Politics is Revolutionay and Practical
Now why do I make a bold statement like that, and what do I base it on? Well, I make it because I happen to believe that it is true, and I base it on the fact that what is being pursued by this new movement appear to be too ambitious an undertaking for the two political dinosaurs locked in perpetual struggle for the right to determine and govern the affairs of our State. Politics in Guyana, except for the brief interlude when Walter Rodney appeared on the scene, is always a contest between the two largest racial groups to determine who will come out “on tap”. The social storm that follows is reminiscent of the after shocks associated with the proverbial struggle between the devil and his wife for the hambone. However, the people associated with Third Force Politics, although seemingly at variance on some issues, appear to be in unison on one front. And that is the need for a fundamental change in this standard of behavior applied by the Guyanese electorate in selecting their Government. It is revolutionary because it will really challenge the modus operandi of political campaigning and all that goes into winning an election. And it is practical because politics based on racial numbers will forever leave somebody out in the cold after every election cycle is over.
The term “Third Force Politics” suggest that there are two other rails of politics in Guyana before this one, and that’s a fact, at least by my thinking. There is the first rail where every party knowingly and consciously panders to its racial or ethnic base, using language that specifically address their concerns, or facilitate an understanding that their concerns are the ones being addressed. The PPP significantly vociferous when there are Indian crime victims, or the PNC modifying condemnation of violence with complains of marginalization are examples of these.
Then there is the second rail where, in an effort to placate and reduce the ammunition of external critics, the two parties indulge in what I call “’feeder sound-bites”. Empty phrases denoting empathy or common cause with the base of their opponents, and which both that base and the politicians themselves recognize as crap. Examples of these are endless, and range from Jagdeo’s comments in Britain that he considered himself President of all the people in Guyana to Corbin’s’ claims that the PNC can win a plurality at the polls. Maybe I am being too harsh on them and they both believe what they are saying, but the voting patterns at elections and tension afterwards suggest that the particular audience they seek to impress have an askance view.
And then we come to the third rail, or what I referred to as “Third Force Politics”. Yes, I know, there have been coalitions before. Yes, I know, there have been attempts by one or more political entities to join together to take down one of the big boys. Listen, this is different. I am not simply talking about the physical coming together of Trotman, and Ramjattan, and Ramsaroop, and Holder etc, etc, etc. I am talking about a political conversation taking place across Guyana and in the Diaspora by others besides the politicians in the forefront. I am talking about a conversation with TK, emotional about the excesses during the years of the PNC, but refusing to allow that to blind or in anyway impede his grasp of what continuance of the status quo implies. I am talking about conversations with and between Roy and Bryan, and Annan, and WoodBoss, and Paul and Peter, the young and maybe the not so very young now, eagerly offering up positive commentary and suggestions that supersede the restrictions of race, and religion and class. Yes, I am talking about Third Force Politics during which conversation moves beyond the boundaries of who did what and when, and engages in how do we deal with this, and then what do we do after.
The revolutionary aspect of Third Force Politics is not only its commitment to take the exercise of selecting a Government beyond a choice based on Race. It is its willingness to condition its success to such a transformation in the electorate. Because that is the only way they can win. They have to change and influence the mindset of the electorate to disengage themselves from a tradition practiced by their parents and grandparents, and this will be no easy task. They have to walk that line their opponents were either reluctant or afraid to trod, and they are willing to do so because it is right, and just, and enabling to our future. And Politics that take Guyana in a direction that is intrinsically right and just and nationally enabling, is indeed revolutionary politics.
Third Force Politics is Practical because it seeks to deal with a situation long on the back burner of press coverage, and not too popular with analysts resident in the two main structures of Guyana’s Politics. But it happens to be the situation around which everything that divides us, that alienates us, and affects our concern for security and quality of life revolves. Some describe it as the Ethnic Dilemma, others choose the way of circumlocution to hint at this basement underbelly of our political reality. But it comes down to one question, and the answer to that question is what makes Third Force Politics a practical alternative for Guyana.
Take a poll, do a survey, but ask this question of the people in the two largest groups in the country and bare the answer for all to see. Will either of the two major Political organizations ever be able to convince the majority of their opponents base that they are capable of acting in their best interests? Go on ask them. Will they ever trust these parties to do what is right, and just, and enabling for communities traditionally loyal and supportive of their opponents, nay their very enemy? We might as well get down to the grimy truth while we are at it. If the answer to that question is affirmative, then Third Force Politics will have a very hard road to travel. But if it is negative, as everyone in Guyana who has not had a lobotomy believe it will be, then Third Force Politics is the only viable situation available to our Nation.
The Third Force, as an organization, will face the same degree of wrath from their opponents for bringing a sense of practical consciousness to the Guyana electorate, as the mythical Prometheus faced from Zeus for bringing fire to mankind. Evidence of this has already been seen in the disjointed attack upon the embryonic organization and some of its prominent members by the PPP’s most pugnacious political pit-bull. But they knew this was not going to be a cake walk when they got into it. Raphael Trotman said that he had reached a point of no return, and was clearly counting on his faith to see him through. Peter Ramsaroop was a soldier, and has clearly demonstrated that backing down is not one of his favorite options. And Kemraj and Sheila strike me as people who will become tougher as the battle gets longer. Bringing up their flank is an assortment of personalities whose gravitation to Third Force Politics convert them to Heroes and Patriots in my book. Now let’s get this Revolution of Political Practicality going.
Keith R Williams
Atlanta, Georgia
keiwillia2111@bellsouth.net
The term “Third Force Politics” suggest that there are two other rails of politics in Guyana before this one, and that’s a fact, at least by my thinking. There is the first rail where every party knowingly and consciously panders to its racial or ethnic base, using language that specifically address their concerns, or facilitate an understanding that their concerns are the ones being addressed. The PPP significantly vociferous when there are Indian crime victims, or the PNC modifying condemnation of violence with complains of marginalization are examples of these.
Then there is the second rail where, in an effort to placate and reduce the ammunition of external critics, the two parties indulge in what I call “’feeder sound-bites”. Empty phrases denoting empathy or common cause with the base of their opponents, and which both that base and the politicians themselves recognize as crap. Examples of these are endless, and range from Jagdeo’s comments in Britain that he considered himself President of all the people in Guyana to Corbin’s’ claims that the PNC can win a plurality at the polls. Maybe I am being too harsh on them and they both believe what they are saying, but the voting patterns at elections and tension afterwards suggest that the particular audience they seek to impress have an askance view.
And then we come to the third rail, or what I referred to as “Third Force Politics”. Yes, I know, there have been coalitions before. Yes, I know, there have been attempts by one or more political entities to join together to take down one of the big boys. Listen, this is different. I am not simply talking about the physical coming together of Trotman, and Ramjattan, and Ramsaroop, and Holder etc, etc, etc. I am talking about a political conversation taking place across Guyana and in the Diaspora by others besides the politicians in the forefront. I am talking about a conversation with TK, emotional about the excesses during the years of the PNC, but refusing to allow that to blind or in anyway impede his grasp of what continuance of the status quo implies. I am talking about conversations with and between Roy and Bryan, and Annan, and WoodBoss, and Paul and Peter, the young and maybe the not so very young now, eagerly offering up positive commentary and suggestions that supersede the restrictions of race, and religion and class. Yes, I am talking about Third Force Politics during which conversation moves beyond the boundaries of who did what and when, and engages in how do we deal with this, and then what do we do after.
The revolutionary aspect of Third Force Politics is not only its commitment to take the exercise of selecting a Government beyond a choice based on Race. It is its willingness to condition its success to such a transformation in the electorate. Because that is the only way they can win. They have to change and influence the mindset of the electorate to disengage themselves from a tradition practiced by their parents and grandparents, and this will be no easy task. They have to walk that line their opponents were either reluctant or afraid to trod, and they are willing to do so because it is right, and just, and enabling to our future. And Politics that take Guyana in a direction that is intrinsically right and just and nationally enabling, is indeed revolutionary politics.
Third Force Politics is Practical because it seeks to deal with a situation long on the back burner of press coverage, and not too popular with analysts resident in the two main structures of Guyana’s Politics. But it happens to be the situation around which everything that divides us, that alienates us, and affects our concern for security and quality of life revolves. Some describe it as the Ethnic Dilemma, others choose the way of circumlocution to hint at this basement underbelly of our political reality. But it comes down to one question, and the answer to that question is what makes Third Force Politics a practical alternative for Guyana.
Take a poll, do a survey, but ask this question of the people in the two largest groups in the country and bare the answer for all to see. Will either of the two major Political organizations ever be able to convince the majority of their opponents base that they are capable of acting in their best interests? Go on ask them. Will they ever trust these parties to do what is right, and just, and enabling for communities traditionally loyal and supportive of their opponents, nay their very enemy? We might as well get down to the grimy truth while we are at it. If the answer to that question is affirmative, then Third Force Politics will have a very hard road to travel. But if it is negative, as everyone in Guyana who has not had a lobotomy believe it will be, then Third Force Politics is the only viable situation available to our Nation.
The Third Force, as an organization, will face the same degree of wrath from their opponents for bringing a sense of practical consciousness to the Guyana electorate, as the mythical Prometheus faced from Zeus for bringing fire to mankind. Evidence of this has already been seen in the disjointed attack upon the embryonic organization and some of its prominent members by the PPP’s most pugnacious political pit-bull. But they knew this was not going to be a cake walk when they got into it. Raphael Trotman said that he had reached a point of no return, and was clearly counting on his faith to see him through. Peter Ramsaroop was a soldier, and has clearly demonstrated that backing down is not one of his favorite options. And Kemraj and Sheila strike me as people who will become tougher as the battle gets longer. Bringing up their flank is an assortment of personalities whose gravitation to Third Force Politics convert them to Heroes and Patriots in my book. Now let’s get this Revolution of Political Practicality going.
Keith R Williams
Atlanta, Georgia
keiwillia2111@bellsouth.net
posted by daretothinkfree @ 9/21/2005 04:30:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home