Dancing with the “Stars”
November 2, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
In its last Sunday editorial, the Stabroek News looked at the deluge of cross-over candidates in this election season and opined that it is left to be seen after the results are known what they would have brought to their respective parties. The editorial concluded that, “Moses Nagamootoo is the one who potentially could have the most impact.”
There can be no doubt that in that plethora of cross-over politicians, Moses Nagamootoo, is the only one that can claim star status. The rest simply do not have the brand name that can bring electoral gains to their newly found homes. In some cases the situation is so absurd that the converts can cause their parties to lose votes. There is the comical situation where Joey Jagan explained that he has returned to his father’s party to ensure that his father’s legacy is carried out. Then in the same breath he said he is not joining his father’s party, the PPP, but the Civic component. Beat that for an example of hilarity.
The Stabroek News referred to Peter Ramsaroop in that very editorial as “the eternal grasshopper.” That is being extra-generous to Ramsaroop who has become a liability to any party he joined at this last minute of the campaign.
Names like Dr. Emmanuel Cummings and Gillian Burton would not transport substantial votes to Freedom House. They are simply persons who do not have the years of public involvement to have established constituencies of their own. The same goes for Dr. Rishi Thakur who switched from the AFC to APNU. I am not sure if Rajendra Bissesar could do maximum damage to the PPP.
In some instances, the defection can bring anger and resentment. I don’t think Joseph Hamilton has ever been popular enough to weaken the PNC’s base. Frederick Mc Wilfred of Bartica was a surprise for the PPP. But being so vocal and radical in his stand against miners’ oppression by the Government, his volte face can be seen as a move driven by selfish motives.
In many of the defections, voters will see these newcomers as wanting to carve out a future for themselves only, and that they were thinking only of themselves.
Some names, of course, are not on the parties’ lists, and their capture would not have been just a political occurrence but a major gold find. One can think of Norris Witter and Lincoln Lewis of the trade union movement. Civil rights activists Mark Benschop and Christopher Ram and the environmentalist, Dr. Janet Bulkan.
If these persons should publicly endorse a political party, the image and credibility heights will rise for that organization.
Unfortunately, Sash Sawh’s brother-in-law who came out in support of the AFC will not widen the net for the AFC, because such a person needs to be on the ground where the highlighting of his persona to the citizens can allow for some kind of conversation among voters.
If Mr. Persaud is going to do damage to the PPP he has to be in Guyana where he can bear his soul for the citizens to see. In the end, there may be only one star that is dancing, and that is Moses Nagamootoo.
It would be silly to dismiss over forty years of service to the PPP as meaning nothing to traditional PPP voters. Nagamootoo has a number of values attached to him. First, he has no baggage. He doesn’t have to explain why he went through a series of organizations before he landed in the PPP.
Secondly, his name has not been associated with any public sordid affair that when you think back it might cause you to have second thoughts. Thirdly and most impressively, he has stood out as the only PPP leader that was willing to speak out against the wrong direction the PPP has taken since Cheddi Jagan died.
Fourthly – and this is the factor that will lacerate the PPP – Nagamootoo claims Jaganite status. He claims he represents the Jaganite legacy.
Now if his detractors inside the PPP are going to come after him, they will have to confront him on that score. To decapitate Nagamootooo you have to prove that he is a betrayer and an insulter of the Jaganite legacy. But who in the PPP can do that? You have to be clean as a whistle if you are going to take on Nagamootoo’s claim to being an inheritor of the Jaganite legacy. And the stable of the present PPP is so dirty that in a confrontation with Nagamootoo it can be counter-productive.
The man who parted the sea looks like he has just divided the PPP into pieces.
November 2, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
In its last Sunday editorial, the Stabroek News looked at the deluge of cross-over candidates in this election season and opined that it is left to be seen after the results are known what they would have brought to their respective parties. The editorial concluded that, “Moses Nagamootoo is the one who potentially could have the most impact.”
There can be no doubt that in that plethora of cross-over politicians, Moses Nagamootoo, is the only one that can claim star status. The rest simply do not have the brand name that can bring electoral gains to their newly found homes. In some cases the situation is so absurd that the converts can cause their parties to lose votes. There is the comical situation where Joey Jagan explained that he has returned to his father’s party to ensure that his father’s legacy is carried out. Then in the same breath he said he is not joining his father’s party, the PPP, but the Civic component. Beat that for an example of hilarity.
The Stabroek News referred to Peter Ramsaroop in that very editorial as “the eternal grasshopper.” That is being extra-generous to Ramsaroop who has become a liability to any party he joined at this last minute of the campaign.
Names like Dr. Emmanuel Cummings and Gillian Burton would not transport substantial votes to Freedom House. They are simply persons who do not have the years of public involvement to have established constituencies of their own. The same goes for Dr. Rishi Thakur who switched from the AFC to APNU. I am not sure if Rajendra Bissesar could do maximum damage to the PPP.
In some instances, the defection can bring anger and resentment. I don’t think Joseph Hamilton has ever been popular enough to weaken the PNC’s base. Frederick Mc Wilfred of Bartica was a surprise for the PPP. But being so vocal and radical in his stand against miners’ oppression by the Government, his volte face can be seen as a move driven by selfish motives.
In many of the defections, voters will see these newcomers as wanting to carve out a future for themselves only, and that they were thinking only of themselves.
Some names, of course, are not on the parties’ lists, and their capture would not have been just a political occurrence but a major gold find. One can think of Norris Witter and Lincoln Lewis of the trade union movement. Civil rights activists Mark Benschop and Christopher Ram and the environmentalist, Dr. Janet Bulkan.
If these persons should publicly endorse a political party, the image and credibility heights will rise for that organization.
Unfortunately, Sash Sawh’s brother-in-law who came out in support of the AFC will not widen the net for the AFC, because such a person needs to be on the ground where the highlighting of his persona to the citizens can allow for some kind of conversation among voters.
If Mr. Persaud is going to do damage to the PPP he has to be in Guyana where he can bear his soul for the citizens to see. In the end, there may be only one star that is dancing, and that is Moses Nagamootoo.
It would be silly to dismiss over forty years of service to the PPP as meaning nothing to traditional PPP voters. Nagamootoo has a number of values attached to him. First, he has no baggage. He doesn’t have to explain why he went through a series of organizations before he landed in the PPP.
Secondly, his name has not been associated with any public sordid affair that when you think back it might cause you to have second thoughts. Thirdly and most impressively, he has stood out as the only PPP leader that was willing to speak out against the wrong direction the PPP has taken since Cheddi Jagan died.
Fourthly – and this is the factor that will lacerate the PPP – Nagamootoo claims Jaganite status. He claims he represents the Jaganite legacy.
Now if his detractors inside the PPP are going to come after him, they will have to confront him on that score. To decapitate Nagamootooo you have to prove that he is a betrayer and an insulter of the Jaganite legacy. But who in the PPP can do that? You have to be clean as a whistle if you are going to take on Nagamootoo’s claim to being an inheritor of the Jaganite legacy. And the stable of the present PPP is so dirty that in a confrontation with Nagamootoo it can be counter-productive.
The man who parted the sea looks like he has just divided the PPP into pieces.