IT has been said time and time again, that Guyana is a Blessed Nation. On November 28, that statement was proven to be true, for Guyana was spared a disaster of astronomical proportions.
Had the AFC and PNCR joined forces to contest the elections as a single unit, they probably may have won a narrow victory, leading Guyana down a path of turmoil and destruction. These two parties just can’t seem to find common ground. During a pre-election interview (published in another section of the media), AFC’s Raphael Trotman wanted it known that he was not in support of excluding the PNCR from forming an alliance with the AFC to contest the general election under one umbrella, stating that the “AFC’s decision to exclude the PNCR was not unanimous.”
He told the reporter: “I believe that the decision of last Saturday, even though made with the best interest of the AFC at heart, can actually create more division than it does healing and from that standpoint alone has to be placed under constant review.”
Even before Moses Nagamootoo absconded from the PPP/C to join forces with the Alliance For Change, Raphael Trotman was high in praise of this veteran politician. “Nagamootoo is of national worth and is indicative of the ilk and calibre of persons that the party is looking to attract,” he said.
Now it appears that Moses Nagamootoo may be having cause to regret his move to the AFC. First, he fell for the oldest trick in the book. He was promised the position of Vice-President if the AFC wins the election.
But every political pundit knew that the AFC’s chances of winning the presidency was at best slim or none. Nagamooto allowed his frustration with the PPP/C to cloud his vision. In his quest for power, he allowed himself to be suckered into joining the AFC by false promises of grandeur, and was used as window dressing just like the non-resident Guyanese who financed the AFC campaign.
He played his part, and can be credited with costing the PPP/C an outright majority at the polls. But instead of getting the full support of the AFC to win the Speakership consolation prize, Khemraj Ramjattan seems to be the only one pushing Moses’ nomination.
The silence of Raphael Trotman is deafening. We still don’t know where Trotman stands on his party’s choice.
Earlier, Trotman himself withdrew from being considered, leaving Moses Nagamootoo as the sole AFC nominee. And while A Partnership for National Unity -APNU is floating the names of Attorneys-at-Law, Deborah Backer and Bishwaishar ‘Cammie’ Ramsaroop, David Granger dismisses Nagamootoo as not being the “right person” for the job.
Nevertheless, when one considers that during the campaign, Granger welcomed Nagamootoo’s decision to leave the PPP/C and recognised his tremendous value to the opposition, it is hard to believe that David Granger would suddenly find him unsuitable.
Could it be that Granger is simply carrying out the wishes of a greater force within his party? APNU continues to oppose Nagamootoo on grounds that he is too politically close to the ruling PPP/C administration.
He is accused of supporting them on certain offensive laws while he was a PPP/C Parliamentarian.
At least, this is the line they’re peddling, however, it is interesting to note that while Cammie Ramsaroop is a trusted PNC insider, he is unlikely to get the nod. The “unofficial” youth arm of APNU, Youth Coalition for Transformation –YCT threatens to take to the streets to ensure Deborah Backer becomes Speaker of the National Assembly.
In a recent interview with the online ‘Demerara Waves’, YCT Leader and PNC firebrand Lurlene Nestor vowed that her organisation would not be bullied into accepting anyone else as Speaker of the National Assembly.
“I am saying that we need politicians to negotiate in good-faith. No amount of slanted propaganda will work or silence us. We are saying ‘peoples power’ will work in this country and there are some things we got to do and if we got to take the streets for that, we going to take it and so we putting people on notice,” she was quoted by DemWaves as saying.
Of course, this is the same radical APNU group, also led by attorney James Bond, that is vowing to intensify protest action unless government caves in to a number of their demands: The removal of Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee by the end of March; to force the administration to include the opposition in a government of national unity; and to have a new Election Commission and Chief Elections Officer in place within six months. Preposterous!
But Backer herself seems to have her own agenda for wanting to be Speaker. At a YCT meeting she told the small gathering at Stabroek Market Square that when APNU goes to Parliament “hopefully with yours truly being the Speaker of the National Assembly”, her priorities will include lowering of the 16 percent Value Added Tax; increase in pensions; the reduction in former president’s pensions; and guaranteeing the rights of ordinary Guyanese. As an attorney, doesn’t Deborah Backer know that the Speaker of the National Assembly’s job is to be impartial?
In recent days, former High Court Judge and father of Raphael Trotman, Donald Trotman, has declared he is available as a “compromise candidate”, and Granger doesn’t seem to have any objection to this.
Can this be the reason Raphael declined consideration for the Speakership? What is going on here? Moses Nagamootoo may soon find out that “national unity” is only relevant to the PNC/APNU if they can bully and intimidate the administration in giving them a ministerial position or two in government.
Apart from that, APNU has no intention of compromising on anything that’s not in their best interest, and it seems that Raphael Trotman has forgotten which political party he now belongs to.