DAVID Granger and Moses Nagamootoo appear in an advertisement next to a picture of President Obama. Clearly they think that this might fool some people to think that President Obama endorses them. Does either Granger or Nagamootoo think they are like Obama? In my view, neither of them comes close to Obama. I know that President Obama will never tell anyone to forget the past. He will never tell the Jews to forget the Holocaust or tell Afro-Americans to forget the racism that existed in America and that Martin Luther King was assassinated. That is why he went to Selma to remember the past and on the struggles of African-American for freedom from discrimination. He does not want Americans to be trapped in the past, but he certainly does not advocate anyone forgets the agony and shame of the past. Granger and Nagamootoo don’t want Guyanese to remember and reflect on the past because they don’t want to be judged by that past.
APNU+AFC supporters concocted a picture of Michele Obama with a placard reading VOTE FOR CHANGE GUYANA. I wonder if desperation drives them to now use the popular President and First Lady to bail them out. I wonder what the American Ambassador to Guyana thinks and will he be bold enough to tell Guyana that the US President and First Lady are endorsing Granger and Nagamootoo. I wonder if the President and First Lady of the US even know the names of the APNU +AFC candidates for the Presidency and Prime Ministerial positions. I wonder if David and Moses now feel they cannot sell themselves to the Guyanese people and they need divine help.
Granger said that he has nothing to apologise for. I wonder whether he will address the nation and say that the policies and the record of the PNC which he now leads, which he pledged loyalty to when he was head of the army and for which he swears he was a card-bearing member since then were all the right policies and the record is one which he is proud of. I wonder if he will tell us that the guns the GDF gave to leaders and other members of the PNC were the right thing to do.
I wonder, really wonder if Granger is sorry that the PNC thugs beat up many PPP leaders, including Nagamootoo. I do wonder if he has apologised to Nagamootoo for the times Nagamootoo himself regaled us of when he was beaten and locked up. I wonder if Granger could tell us that Rodney was a gangster like the Ballot Box Martyrs. I wonder if Granger could tell us if the PNC clothe, feed and housed the Guyanese people, as they had promised. I wonder if Granger would tell us if it is true that Guyana was one of the most indebted countries on earth in 1992. I wonder if Granger would tell us that the cooperative model for development worked. I really wonder many things about Granger, but I realise if I go on there are not enough space for me to tell you what I wonder about.
I wonder if Moses will allow the Clerk of the Parliament to publish Moses salary record to see if he is telling us the truth about his salary. He told the people at Whim that he never accepted any salary increase as a Minister and as an MP. To protect his integrity, would Moses mind the records to be made public? I wonder how many people ever saw Moses sitting in business class because he told the people at Whim that he never travelled in business class. Did he travel recently to Canada on an economy ticket? I am not saying he lied. I am simply wondering.
I wonder what the military and the police officers think when Granger said they will give 20% salary increase because this is the only way to stop corruption among army and police officers. Are they offended? I wonder if I am right in thinking this is an insult to all officers because they have been demonised by Granger as corrupt. I wonder what sugar workers must be thinking when APNU+AFC think that their wages and salary package is too big a proportion of GuySuCo expenses.
I wonder why Moses felt compelled to disavow his Indian-ness to fit in as Granger’s partner. I wonder why Granger felt no need to disavow his African ancestry. I wonder if either Granger or Moses would celebrate Indian arrival day this year.
But I am wondering too much. I will simply vote for the PPP/C so that I don’t need to wonder about these things.
Dr. Leslie Ramsammy