Dear Editor,

JOSEPH Harmon, Opposition Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) has to be chasing the Impossible Dream, or he has completely ‘lost it’. The man, instead of seeking to help in the governance of Guyana, and offering some hope to his APNU+AFC supporters, has now “…filed two No Confidence Motions against two senior PPP ministers”. He did the norm by submitting “… the motions with the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, against Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony and Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn.” First, numerically, Harmon is heading down the losers’ path. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has 33 seats in the 65- seat National Assembly; the APNU+AFC coalition has 31; and the joinder parties, one seat. On a wild assumption that APNU+AFC can ascend to 32, where will that take Joseph Harmon?  Is he hoping for a cross-over?  If he is, then I think that he has to do some serious introspection. I remind him that the APNU+AFC base is dwindling rapidly, to the point that many have left on account that the leaders of APNU+AFC are corrupt and incompetent.

Fresh on the mind is the resignation of Attorney-at-law Thandi McAllister, who confirmed her resignation from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), citing poor leadership of the party. McAllister was with the party for some 25 years, yet “After very careful and agonizing consideration”, she surmised that “…the present direction of the leadership is ill-suited to the fulfillment of the aspirations of young people in Guyana, the enhancement of the party’s supporters, and the advancement of the nation.”  So I want to know what Harmon is up to?
I can add the defection of some others from APNU+AFC; Michael Leonard from The Alliance For Change (AFC), the second largest party in the main parliamentary opposition, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC); Lennox Gasper, former APNU+AFC Linden Town Councillor, from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), almost five years after joining the party; and Reynard Ward, former Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament, over its “broken, abusive and one-sided relationship”, Lennox Craig and Abel Seetaram from the AFC are some others.

The second thing is that the Harmon posse has been after Dr. Anthony, heavily criticising him for his management of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for what, according to Harmon, is “a vaccine procurement scandal” which was quickly debunked independently too.  In fact, Guyana is the 33rd country in the world to approve Sputnik V. The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorisation procedure. The vaccine is one of the world’s top three coronavirus vaccines in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators. And as regards procurement, “At no time did Guyana procure vaccines from any illegal entity or anyone in trouble with legal authorities anywhere,” and as Anthony said, “Guyana has not procured vaccines from any illegal source…” unlike what Mr. Harmon is claiming.

Concerning Minister Benn, Harmon is claiming that “… crime is reportedly spiraling out of control…” This ‘song of Harmon’ has been debunked too, as the Guyana Police Force has shown that from a statistical point of view, Harmon is in the wrong. Quoting the stats, Robeson Benn showed that “… there was a decrease in serious crimes in Guyana in 2020 by 6.9 per cent. And as for year-to-year figures for 2021, the decline in serious crimes is by 40.3 per cent, when compared with the same period last year.
Harmon must know that he is just manufacturing one gimmick after another and he is seeking to give his dwindling support base false hope once again. Just as he did in regards to the two elections petitions which were thrown out by the Chief Justice.

Yours truly,

Alvin Hamilton