IT was the gunshot heard all over Congress Place; someone could have died or could have been seriously injured. In their rush to cover it up, the incident suddenly had no perpetrator. Not surprisingly, the PPP was being blamed for it, as it was for everything else that went wrong at the PNCR congress.

David Granger, while contending that he was not aware of the identity of the gunman, was adamant that he was not part of the PNCR. It looks like this statement will come back to haunt him. Wittingly or unwittingly, the man who pulled out from challenging Granger for the leadership post at the Congress because of accusations of vote rigging has now made a statement which further undermines the credibility of the Opposition leader.
In an interview with Kaieteur news the day after the Congress, Aubrey Norton disclosed that he knows the identity of the person who fired the shot, but would not tell the press… “we as, a party will deal with that.”
Now how is Norton aware of the gunman’s identity and the leader, Mr. Granger, claims he is not?
If, as Granger and his associates contend, the individual is not from the PNCR, but was rather some conspirator sent by the PPP, why not expose the entire plan and release the identity of the culprit?
Why will Norton not tell the press, as he has been telling them everything thing else, including the fact that he has evidence of corruption in the party and has been receiving death threats?
Why does it have to be an internal matter for the party, when it clearly was an illegal act, which placed innocent lives in danger and was captured by the media?
Mr. Norton, as with several of his estranged colleagues, is coming across as if he is eager to sweep this unlawful incident under the carpet, which is very informative.
On the other hand, Mr. Granger has the opportunity to prove to all Guyana and the international community that he is committed to law and order by having this individual face the consequences of his actions.
In the most hilarious episode yet, Granger has asked his partner, Winston Felix, to do damage control by claiming that a woman was in danger of being crushed by the confusion over their vote rigging, so firing the shot was necessary. This position clearly contradicts what was in the media, as when they published the image of the gunman, they had indicated that it was taken shortly after the gunshot was fired.
Even the most casual of glances at the image would indicate that there was no look of urgency or concern on the faces of the individuals in the photo, including the gunman. A picture does tell a thousand words, as everyone was just casually milling around, some were even chatting next to the culprit, which disproves the theory now being pushed by the PNCR that there was mass panic and fear of people being injured, thus it necessitated the shooting.
Rather it was an attempt to keep those querying the falsified delegates’ list at bay, as surely had they pressed those in charge for answers; it would have led to even more startling revelations.
This incident tells us that the current PNCR leadership is more than willing to compromise the safety and security of its own supporters; therefore we should not be surprised that they are intent on doing the same at the national level.