Dear Mr. Editor,

AS I ponder on the leadership of the People’s National Congress (PNC) and as I monitor and analyse the various conversations in the printed, electronic and social media, it is clear that the PNC is having a leadership crisis. I say PNC because I am in full agreement with political science professor Mr. Freddie Kissoon that the PNC, AFC, WPA and all the small parties that formed the Coalition are dead.

It would be a good time now for me to examine the candidates vying for the leadership of the PNC. Mr. Van West Charles was a known executive member of the AFC and the son-in-law of Mr. Linden F.S. Burnham. I don’t think that he has much support within the membership of the PNC Congress because of previous questionable actions. He is already a very old man although he is a very smooth man; I don’t think that he will get far with his campaign bid for leader.

Now let’s move to Mr. Aubrey Norton. He is a die-hard PNC strongman and he has never wavered over the many decades he has embraced this party.  Mr. Norton will get some support from the Congress but I don’t think that he can get over the line. Politics is about money and Mr. Norton doesn’t have any relationship with the private sector. Mr. Norton has never spoken anything over the past 40 years supporting any other race other than his own support base. He also lacks the ability to provide leadership to garner the cross over votes. So, when you enter politics your goal is to win an election. Can Mr. Norton win an election? Certainly not! His tactics would be to organise and give critical support and leadership to organise street protests, dissent and other activities that don’t do good for any country.

Now let us examine Madam Volda Lawrence. It is unfortunate that she would not be running in this race. She is the most popular candidate in the PNC. However, she did something really stupid, that is to put her signature on the Region Four – Statement of Poll in an effort to support Clairmont Mingo’s actions which resulted in her being charged and placed before the courts for something that can ultimately destroy her political career.

The question is, who will Miss Lawrence support at the Congress in December? Whoever, she supports will win the leadership. However, my understanding is that she will be on the sideline and will allow her supporters to make their own individual choice.

Finally, Mr. Joseph Harmon. He has been in politics for over 10 years and has acquired some experience serving as Director-General in the Office of the President. His role as Chief Minister under the David Granger lead administration from 2015-2020 has placed him as the front runner for the leadership. During this time, he has developed a reasonable relationship with the private sector and only he can attract significant financial support for campaign funding.

All political parties and elections activities call for large sums of money and the party with the most money stands a better chance of winning an election. In addition, Mr. Harmon might be in a better position of winning crossover votes as he has a number of young former Ministers and Members of Parliament in full support of him as leader of the PNC. The time is now right for him to make public his philosophy and policies as the Guyanese public is eagerly awaiting more details from Mr. Joseph Harmon.

Yours respectfully,
Raghubir Persaud