…says Granger must account for his record
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday shared his thoughts on the chances of the newly formed “A Partnership for National Unity” (APNU) at the upcoming general and regional elections, and said if one were to use history as a measure, those chances look meagre. Speaking at a press conference at the Office of the President, he said that the David Granger-led opposition coalition APNU cannot win the elections as its partners are “deadbeat” parties.
The president said that he was having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that the PNC has been dissolved.
“So the PNC is gone. For the first time in our history since Independence, in fact pre-independence, the PNC is gone” President Jagdeo said. He added that he cannot grasp the strategy the APNU, consisting of the PNCR and other small political parties-the National Front Alliance (NFA) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA)- are trying to use to win the elections.
The president noted that based on Guyana’s electoral system of Proportional Representation, which in reality is “one man one vote”, the APNU has no chances of winning the elections.
Reflecting on the 2006 elections results and the performances of the parties that form the APNU, President Jagdeo said PNCR secured 34 percent of the votes.
He noted that that NFA did not contest the 2006 polls, but managed less than one percent of votes in the 2001 elections.
“So that is the reality of the APNU, you can dress it up, you can call it whatever you want, it is the reality of this coalition, simple mathematics…if you have one plus zero it’s still one, no matter how you dress it up, repackage people, cut their hair, put them in suits, do all sorts of stuff, resurrect people from a different era, it is the same, and so that’s the reality,” The President said.
He noted that PPP/C secured almost 54 percent of the votes at the 2006 elections; and based on its track record of continued positive development in Guyana, that percentage may have even increased significantly.
Jagdeo said that that despite the disappearance of the PNC, the same players are involved; that is what matters as some of the players have “torn” history, and there are many questions to answer about what Guyanese had to face under the PNC Government.
“Granger (David) still was the political “commissar” in the army…up to a few weeks ago he was saying how long he has been a member of the PNC; Granger is running as presidential candidate, so his record doesn’t disappear because he changed the form of the organization, Granger still has to answer for his record,” the President reminded.
He maintains his position that Granger has a tattered record when he was in charge of the army under the PNC-Administration.
“Lots of bad things happened and he needs to speak about them and what he knows about them; how involved he was, because he was not a regular soldier,” the President said.
He noted that Granger was sent by the then leader under the PNC to ensure that the army moves in a particular direction, to ensure party paramountcy and to suppress the Constitution of Guyana.