WE have seen this type of despicable behaviour before, in the hallmark of the Burnham era; and it was fuelled by hate, malice, resentment and intolerance. It was a dark time in our nation’s history under the authoritarian PNC regime, and David Granger, Robert Corbin and Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine are very familiar with it. It is a  time they now want us to forget, a time when thugs and hooligans and the mere mention of the letters ‘PNC’ drove fear into the hearts of most Guyanese, but more so those of Indian descent.
Now this beast has once again raised its ugly head, threatening the stability and security of our nation. Buxton was the first real sign of how desperate the PNC/APNU have become. They know that their chances of winning the Presidency on November 28 are at best slim or nonexistent, for they have nothing new to offer: same old tricks, different day.
PNC/APNU are disorganised and visionless, and cannot even produce a manifesto a mere week before Guyana goes to the polls. This is a classic display of incompetence, and a demonstration of their inability to effectively manage the complex economy of a country of which they are trying to take control.
If their manifesto is ever published, no one will have the time to scrutinise it the way they were able to bisect and dissect the 2011 PPP/C manifesto. And I believe this is part of their strategy. They will take the PPP/C Manifesto and promise to double whatever Ramotar commits to. The One Laptop Per Family programme will be expanded to give a computer to every teacher. Granger will promise to get rid of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and will raise salaries by 20%; no, make that 50% instead. Then he will promise to stop all crimes and road accidents the first day he’s in office. Hell, he may even play God and promise to reduce the temperature by 20 degrees to prevent Guyanese from sweating under the blistering sun. But unrealistic promises are very easy to make in an election year, when no one really expects PNC/APNU to win.

So, once again, desperation steps in, and the supporters of PNC/APNU are now doing what they do best-destroy and deface PPP/C billboards; assassinate the character of anyone who endorses the candidacy of Donald Ramotar; intimidate and harass persons attending PPP/C meetings; and now they are upping the ante by resorting to violence, especially on Afro-Guyanese supporters of the ruling party.
The fact that David Granger has failed to condemn the wilful disruption of the PPP/C meeting at Buxton by known PNC/APNU thugs and supporters may have been the catalyst of another vicious and almost deadly attack on Afro-Guyanese supporters of the PPP/C in the neighbouring village of Victoria.
The last time I checked, freedom of speech had been fully restored under the PPP/C administration, and everyone had the constitutional right to support the political party of their choice. If APNU goes to a PPP/C stronghold to hold a meeting, I would expect those supportive of APNU to attend, as well as those undecided voters. The rest will stay at home and may listen to the speakers from there. Why can’t the PNC/APNU supporters do the same when the PPP/C holds meetings in predominantly Afro neighbourhoods? Whatever happened to civility and respect for each other and the law?

Earlier in his campaign, David Granger made an appeal to ex-GDF soldiers to be vigilant, and to go to polling places on Election Day as scrutineers to prevent the PPP/C from rigging the elections. Granger and his ex-GDF buddies may well be reminiscing on the rigged election of 1973 that gave Burnham’s PNC a two-thirds majority in Parliament, courtesy of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF); so they would be familiar with the execution of such an operation. Then former GDF officers Malcolm Harripaul and Mark Archer seem to have taken over Granger’s public relations campaign, distorting the government’s achievements in the local press, and misinforming the electorate. And now that controversial former Police Commissioner Winston Felix and former Brigadier General of the Guyana Defence Force, Edward Collins, have been inducted as members of APNU, Guyanese are forced to ask this question: If APNU is successful at the polls on November 28, are we looking at a potential military state? Could we see the reintroduction of National Service? Are we going back to the 1970s, when the military had to swear allegiance to the PNC party? What message is David Granger sending to our people at this time?

David Granger needs to denounce these acts of violence perpetrated by his supporters against the PPP/C, and honour the GECOM Code of Conduct that he recently signed. Failing this, APNU will be nothing more than his Affiliates Perpetrating National Unrest.