Can a diplomat help the PPP rebuild its tarnished image?

DEAR EDITOR,
Amongst the thorns of the Jagdeoites at Freedom House she is viewed as naÏve and inexperienced with a distinct and separate flair that would not fit into the mold of PPP propaganda and dirty race-bait politics. She is not a politician but a proud diplomatic who has served Guyana well.
We are speaking of Mrs. Elizabeth Harper who has given up her position as the Director General of Foreign Affairs and years of experience in diplomacy to become the Prime Ministerial candidate of the PPP. Though new to politics, Mrs. Harper has aligned with the most vindictive and immoral regime ever.
It will be very difficult for her to defend the PPP achieving the status in the perception of the majority of citizens as being the most corrupt, arrogant and depraved regime ever, and in politics perception is reality.
Why would a decent and well respected diplomat like Mrs. Harper join the PPP? Was she not thinking clearly? Was she afraid to say no to the Jagdeoites at Freedom House? Or was she captivated with the little power that comes with the office of the Prime Minister? Whichever it is, she is likely to lose her pristine image and her immaculate reputation as a diplomatic and will not be smelling like a rose after the election is over.
For the PPP to select Ms. Harper, and not Ms. Carolyn Rodrigues, shows that there was a major power struggle between the Jagdeoites and the Old Guard at Freedom House to find a consensus candidate. The choice of Ms. Harper confirms that the PPP is desperate and is in a leadership crisis.
Ms. Rodrigues has a constituency among the Amerindian Communities, but Ms. Harper does not and as a result, she will have no impact on the election.
The PPP is too mired in scandals, corruption, wrongdoing and illegal acts for anyone to give them legitimacy. It will be a laborious task for the soft-spoken and well-mannered diplomat who is gifted in diplomacy, not politics.
It would not be easy for Ms. Harper to deliberately and cleverly employ a strategy of distancing herself from the actions of the errant PPP ministers or the rants of Kwame McCoy and others. Mrs. Harper is a respected public servant but she does not have the requisite political skills and experience to save the PPP from a sound trashing at the polls.
By entering the political arena, Mrs. Harper should know that the gloves are off and she will receive scathing attacks from the public as she tries to defend the PPP regime on issues like fraud, corruption, nepotism, dishonesty, arrogant and spiteful.
The spate of political scandals and corrupt practices and the caustic criticisms levelled against the PPP by some of its own supporters have had a negative impact on the party. No one can repair the damage done to the image of the PPP by Jagdeo.
Their supporters in the sugar industry are currently fuming over the high level of crime and corruption and the use of state funds by those in power to enrich themselves, their relatives and friends, while the average worker is struggling to survive on the slave like wages.
As it stands now, Mrs. Harper’s candidacy will not ease the frustrations endured by the people during the past 15 years of PPP rule. Of more significance, she will not be able to address the controversies, scandals and corruption which the cabinet seems to attract. A preferred strategy is for her to stand aloof and distance herself from the fiascoes that seem to plague the PPP regime on a daily basis.
Or else, she may very well face a barrage of criticisms from the disillusioned youths and the old and middle-aged citizens whom the PPP cabal has abandoned for their rich friends.
In the coming days and weeks, the population will look on in fascination at how the PPP’s first female Prime Ministerial candidate will deal with the controversies and chaos or how she will extricate herself from them. What is clear is that Mrs. Harper will find herself boxed into a corner as the scripted PM candidate, which means that everything she says will be written for her by the Jagdeoite PR team at Freedom House.
Firstly, for some people, such an approach is out of sync with the model of conventional “decency and respect” associated with such high office. Secondly, others will see it as an act of desperation and a slant against women, who the PPP still considers to be inferior to men.
Dr. Asquith Rose,

Chandra Deolall,

Dr. Merle Spencer-Marks