IN his round of swinging attacks on several persons of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Prime Ministerial candidate of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, Moses Nagamootoo refused to spare the PPP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Ms. Elisabeth Harper, questioning her credentials based on her domestic violence platform.
Harper, who is the former Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had detailed in an interview with former Ms. Guyana World, Olive Gopaul that the central theme of her political career would be domestic violence as she was once a victim.
According to the Prime Ministerial candidate during the interview, “Domestic violence is real in our society and me being able to tell my story, from where I came from, what I’ve become, how I did it, I feel that I could encourage women, I could also encourage interest groups in society to help to rid us of this.”
Against this backdrop, several of her speeches since her appearance in the political sphere have sought to promote a reduction in the cases of domestic violence while underscoring the importance of eradicating such a social ill.
But this genuine attempt by Harper was documented by Nagamootoo in an attempt to launch an assault, against her platform, which he did at Whim, Berbice, last Sunday evening.
Addressing the gathering at Whim, his hometown, Nagamootoo sought to urge the Berbicians not to vote for Harper at the upcoming elections, simply because they didn’t know who she was. Rather, he questioned the crowd, who responded positively if they knew who he was, while at the same time, hinting that he should be voted for based on this principle.
“Do you know me?” a confident Nagamootoo asked the people of his hometown, while receiving a positive feedback. “Do you know who Elisabeth Harper is?” he further questioned, while adding sarcastically, “Well, this Harper lady says she wants to be Prime Minister because she was a victim of domestic violence.”
Rhetorically he then questioned how was it that Harper could stand on the same platform as former President Bharat Jagdeo if she was advocating against domestic violence, thereby implying that the former president was guilty of such practices.
The APNU+AFC’s Prime Ministerial candidate then confidently charged the crowd to consider that if something happens to the President, the Prime Minister assumes office of the President and they should examine Harper in that regard, holding the portfolio of Prime Minister, should the PPP win the next General and Regional elections.