KINDLY allow me the time and space in your newspaper to express my thoughts and opinion on matters pertaining to recent developments within the People’s National Congress Reform, a party that I have supported for the past 20 years. As a supporter of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), I feel compelled to express my frustration with what I see as A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) abandonment of the traditional PNCR campaign machinery in preference for former army colleagues of its presidential candidate, David Granger which, in my view, may result in a performance far worse than the 2006 elections results at the upcoming polls.

Many party stalwarts that I have spoken to have questioned the wisdom of sidelining tried and tested hands such as Dr Mark Kirton, Dr Faith Harding, Sherwood Lowe, James Mc Allister, Vincent Alexander, Basil Williams, Andrew Hicks, Juliana Gaul, Peter Livingstone, et al, who command significant support among potential voters in the PNC strong areas.

The consensus view is that so far former army officers Malcom Harripaul, Joseph Harmon and Mark Archer who served under Granger and are currently at the forefront of his campaign have been unable to hold sway with the traditional PNC support bloc.

Outside of this traditional support base, many see their involvement as a stark reminder of the PNC militarisation era and this makes it even more difficult for us to capture the necessary cross over votes.

How does the record of Mark Archer (whose record of service to this country still remains unheard of) or that of Malcom Harripaul, who moved from the PPP to ROAR, stands up to public scrutiny?

Like the others, I too have witnessed the low turn outs at our meetings and fund raising events and it worries me, like I’m sure it worries many others, that the proposed US$6M campaign fund figure might remain just a ‘proposed figure’.

There is no doubt in my mind that the absence of those familiar faces have impacted severely on the party’s ability to mobilize in an effort to secure the votes needed to rid Guyana of this inept PPP/C Government.
The sidelining of these comrades has rendered a significant portion of our once formidable election mobilization machinery redundant and it is time for a re-think in strategy.