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By Miranda La Rose
Sunday, June 26th 2005
The desire of Khemraj Ramjattan and Raphael Trotman "to bridge the racial divide that has developed due to the dominance of the two major political forces... could only be a good thing and people like me have an obligation to support it and that is what I am doing."
So said WPA Member of Parliament Sheila Holder in an interview with Stabroek News on Friday when she stated that she makes, "no secret of [her] enthusiasm for the combination dubbed the Third Force. I believe that Khemraj Ramjattan and Raphael Trotman breaking away from the two major political parties is a significant event in this country [at a time when] MPs, feel that they are locked into their parties, that they are owned and controlled by their parties, that breaking away is quite a traumatic experience and that the fear associated with it is almost as if they have to get permission."
They have signalled by the breakaway "a maturity to branch off on their own. That is what someone does when he or she reaches the age of maturity whether it is in the political or the human sphere," she said.
Noting the country's need for new leadership and the support for it, she said, the movers behind the Third Force are signalling that, "They're concerned about the racial insecurities in this country; that they have a desire to bridge the racial divide that has developed due to the dominance of the two major political forces in this country."
Holder sees the Third Force having an impact on the upcoming elections particularly with the support of the young people. "I see evidence of young people likely to break away from the traditional positions taken by the parents. They are the ones driving the Third Force."
She has no illusions, however, that the Third Force would be able to wipe out the PPP/C and the PNCR but, "Young people have come to realise they can craft out a niche for this Third Force [until they can find a name] that would give them an opportunity to play a crucial role in the future of this country."
She is aware that there are die-hard supporters of the PPP/C and the PNCR who would never change. "They don't care what the PNC or PPP do they would stick with them come what may. They are not going to shift on any arguments even if you presented them with evidence that from my perspective would be substantial to make anybody shift. They represent an older generation [who are] so locked into the old mindset of the PPP and the PNC that they do not even get to the point of being prepared to acknowledge that it has been detrimental to their own well-being."
Holder said the Third Force was operating in a kind of political environment where threats are to be anticipated. "We're not in a political environment where morality prevails... Any new political entity has to be aware that the current political environment is hostile; that it does not play fair; and that the political environment in which we are operating puts them at a disadvantage.
"If they [Trotman and Ramjattan] start off from that position, they are informed and can design their strategies sensibly. To believe that you can change this political environment based on some preconceived notions of morality in sheep's clothing, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage and you're doomed to failure. I'm not going to fall for that trap. One has to be wise and to recognise politics for what politics is worth in this country."
On the question of whether many now supporting the Third Force would on elections day return to the two major ethnically based parties, Holder said, "It is not for me to believe it. People get the government they deserve. If people do that they deserve what they get from the PPP if they put the PPP back in office. It is not within my power to predict how people behave but it is my responsibility to ensure that people are properly informed about the consequences of their behaviour. If they choose to vote race they have no leg to stand on when at a later date they themselves are subjected to racist treatment and racist behaviour. You must understand that this society is what it is because of how we the people behave. This society has not become as decadent as it has because of the PPP or the PNC. It is so because the people have allowed it and have embraced this kind of lawlessness and vulgarity."
Taking a stand
She feels it is time Guyana "takes a stand against [voting race] instead of running like cowards out of this country to the United States of America and every other country under the sun... What the Third Force is doing is giving people the opportunity to take that stand. That's all we can do. The decision rests with the people. If the people choose to take the stand we have as those who offer ourselves for service the burden to deliver. If we don't deliver, the people are obligated to get rid of us as well. People must understand that if they don't want to execute their responsibility to themselves no one can help them."
Asked how the WPA viewed her support for the Third Force, Holder said, "My personal view is that the WPA would be part of this new thing, if not the WPA, individual members of the WPA." She said many people who at one time or the other were associated with the WPA were now encouraging her to take the move forward with the Third Force. Some in the country and some residing overseas have indicated to her that they welcome the new force.
Both Trotman and Ramjattan have been talking with the various political parties, including the WPA, and those discussions are ongoing, she said, adding, "I don't intend to comment on those as I don't want to jeopardise that. The WPA would have to make that decision to be or not to be a part of the Third Force. I would hope they would."
Asked about giving up her seat in the National Assembly, Holder said some journalists have asked her about rumours that she has been given an ultimatum to give up her seat in parliament because of her public expression of support for the Ramjattan/Trotman combination. However, she said that there has been no such request from the executive of the WPA and any such request would be premature on the part of the WPA since there was no new political entity to which she was aligned even though she has expressed public support for the combination. Additionally, she represents an alliance and any request for her to give up the seat in parliament would have to come from the GAP/WPA alliance.
Her relationship with the WPA was "an interesting one," she explained. She joined the GAP/WPA alliance under a citizens' component and was never a WPA member. "Many who were part and parcel of that initiative kept their eyes on me, kept in touch with me and let me know how they feel on issues, particularly on my public utterances and my work in the National Assembly," she said.
Before entering parliament on the WPA ticket, she was involved in the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector spending 30 years working pro bono. "I am concerned about the welfare of our people or I would not have given so much of my life to that service; and my enthusiasm about moving in this direction is what I consider is needed in this country to lift our people out of the quagmire that we find ourselves in. I don't need to be apologetic about that," she said.
Parliament
Asked whether she was satisfied with her work in the opposition, Holder said, "Sir Michael has hit the nail on the head. I am pleased that I resisted initial attempts made by some with whom I was associated to de-emphasise the importance of the National Assembly. There were people within [opposition parties], who think that the parliamentary work amounted to nothing much. They did not think that the environment was conducive to delivering what they thought needed to be delivered and therefore attempts were made to pull me out of the National Assembly but I resisted it and I stayed."
She added that, "Because disillusionment of the parliament existed and there is that element of disillusionment within the WPA itself, attempts were made at times to persuade me that I was wasting my time in the National Assembly. I didn't buy into that because I believed the only way the system could improve was to put it to the test... That is what I did and I thought it delivered some measurable benefits eventually. Had I not done so, the status quo would have remained the same."
Even though she was representing the WPA component of the GAP/WPA alliance, Holder said basically, she was on her own in the National Assembly for the four years she was there. "One person who has given me a great deal of advice, whenever I requested it, was Brother Eusi Kwayana even though he is out of the country."
The WPA in her opinion has a very liberal view on issues, which she benefited from because of the free rein to do as she saw necessary in the National Assembly. "Except on one occasion when I was asked to withdraw a motion to enquire into the [Ronald] Gajraj accusations about the death squad, which I withdrew, the WPA has never asked me to do anything instinctively that I found objectionable."
On what has been her disappointment with parliament, she said, "the unwillingness of the PPP/C administration to be futuristic and to understand that the gains they had been able to bring to the parliament are insufficient. The PPP has a preoccupation with the past, a preoccupation with wallowing in their achievements as if that's the be all and end all." Achievements, she said were measurable and if measured with the needs of the society; the performance of parliament and oversight functions, such as scrutinizing the executive; and keeping the parliament separate and distance from the executive, the government was still procrastinating and has not moved in that direction.
Principles
To say they answer questions when in the previous administration questions would be dumped in a waste paper basket does not advance the cause of society or make it more accountable and transparent.
On her own political future, Holder said she started her political career very late but any political future for her will "be hinged to the needs of the society and we have to educate the people to play a far bigger role than they have played so far in the administration of this country whether it is at the civil society or political level."
While she does not consider herself as having any special political gift, she declared that she lives her life on the basis of some fundamental principles in keeping with the Ten Commandments. She said she would not bear false witness against anyone. If that position benefits the PPP/C or the PNCR "so be it." Stating, too, that one should not kill, she said that she was not taking the revisionist view which would suggest that you must not kill an animal or a tree, she said, "God gave us dominion over the trees and the creatures of this earth and 'Thou shall not kill' means that we mustn't kill our brothers and sisters whatever race they may be."
Quite frankly, she said, the people who share this view "would recognise that the Lord Almighty has not prescribed any political party to deliver our people from the injustices to which our people have been subjected to over the umpteenth decades. All the other forces have tried and they have not brought us peace and harmony; they have not brought us economic development and prosperity, but instead have forced people to leave these shores in large numbers."
She said that Guyana as a nation was going to be 40 years at the independence anniversary next year. "That has a great deal of biblical significance for those of us who believe in God Almighty. I believe that our people have grown up sufficiently to embrace that coming of age, that epoch, and that new movement waiting to take this nation out of the wilderness which we found ourselves in the last 40 years."
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