Life in Miami can really spoil someone, as I’ve been spending long hours on the beach, at the pool, and shopping for things I really don’t need. But in the past six weeks that I’ve been here escaping the snow and frigid weather in New York, I’ve been a bit negligent in following through on some very important issues in the news, and Freddie Kissoon is not one of them. My congratulations to Brigadier David Granger on securing the victory that makes him the PNCR presidential candidate to contest the General Election later this year. This is no surprise to anyone following the campaign, but Carl Greenidge’s courageous and excellent performance in losing to Granger by a mere 15 votes is a clear indication that Winston Murray would have been the delegates’ first choice, had he been alive today.
Credible though he may appear, the Brigadier has an uphill battle winning back the PNCR supporters lost to the AFC in 2006, and an almost impossible task leading his party (or should I say,”Corbin’s party”) to victory. Herein lies the problem with the David Granger candidacy: He will now have to explain his role as Forbes Burnham’s Political Liaison Officer at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and in the 1973 seizure of ballot boxes by the GDF that gave the PNC a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Even the PPP has never been able to amass a two-thirds majority in any election with their superior numbers, but the PNC did it in 1973, with a little help from their loyal friends in the GDF.      It is not good enough to sweep this issue under the rug by explaining how loyal a soldier Granger was… only following orders. Professional ethics and his conscience should have forced him to resign from the GDF rather than be part of a machinery that disenfranchised so many Guyanese, and stole the elections from the PPP.
By placing his career above the interest of the Guyanese people; by remaining loyal to Burnham and the PNC; and by his continued silence over the years on the GDF-executed election fraud in 1973, David Granger has forfeited his right to question the decisions relative to the emerging PPP/C presidential candidate, or to take issue on any other matter of national interest.
David Granger was selected by Robert Corbin, and will be under immense pressure to name another Corbin favourite, Dr. Faith Harding, as his running mate over Carl Greenidge, as he had already signalled this in his acceptance speech by saying, “I am looking to women…I am keeping my options open”.
If this is done, it will further cause division among party supporters, and will be seen as a deliberate attempt at isolating members of the Murray camp. I’ve said this before, and I will say it again: As long as Robert Corbin remains PNCR Party Leader, he will be the one planning the strategyies and calling all the shots. He was rejected by the electorate in 2006, and putting Granger there as his storefront will not fool the people. It is always fascinating to hear seasoned politicians talk about the good they will do if elected, and most do so with good intentions. But I must remind Robert Corbin that if he truly believes that “the PNCR is the only party capable of providing the necessary leadership to liberate and transform Guyana to ensure a better quality of life for all Guyanese”, then he must be delusional. We had 28 years of the PNC and most Guyanese,who could have found a way, fled, leaving everything behind, to secure a better quality of life elsewhere.
I still remember boarding my flight with only $100, which was all the money I was allowed to leave with. So, unless there is a radical change in policies and leadership of the PNCR, which I have not seen yet, David Granger is like a lamb going to the slaughter.
I have serious reservations with the cavalier approach to the management style of President Jagdeo, and most of the allegations levelled against him may very well be true: But there has been tremendous progress under his administration, despite the surge in violent crime; joblessness; waste of public funds; lack of transparency and accountability; and this is what scares the opposition, because most Guyanese can see the transformation taking place.
During my last visit to Guyana, a young family in Berbice told me that they would vote for the PPP because they now enjoy electricity in a village that was once in darkness. I have seen the infrastructural development taking place; roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and housing schemes, and the voters will see them too. More could have been done and should have been done, but he is leaving a solid foundation upon which his successor can build.
I have no doubt that both leading PPP/C candidates: Donald Ramotar and Ralph Ramkarran, are acutely aware of the concerns expressed every day in the media, and will put pressure on Jagdeo to be more open and accountable to the Guyanese people in the fading months of his administration, It is also imperative to realize the passage of the Freedom of Information Act by the end of June, as this piece of legislation is long overdue.
Every day that another embarrassing and controversial story surfaces, what now appears to be a PPP/C landslide will cost them votes and seats in Parliament, in a really tough and nasty election campaign, which President Jagdeo can and should prevent. But in the end, facing a weak opposition whose sole objective is to replace the Jagdeo administration, I feel sure the PPP/C will prevail.