Dear Editor,
BROTHERS and sisters, the Regional Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council of Region Four acted very inappropriately by attempting the PNC’s bullying tactics by trying to hijack a regional event and dictate what he wants and who must speak.

It is sad that it had to be done like that in the public, where the REO had to take steps to ensure that the said event was not hijacked by the PNC Regional Chairman.

I am sure the Regional Chairman was made aware of the agenda for the said activity. But I know of this party’s tactics to gain low political points, whereby he will be pressured to say that he never knew of the agenda but was given minutes before the programme got underway.

Mr Chairman, if that will be your claim, then you had minutes to ask the REO for a consultation with him as to what you are suggesting as to who and who should be included as speakers for the event.

But instead of that, you tried to use your party’s bullying tactics by trying to “throw away” the original programme and do what you wanted to do by inviting whom you want to the microphone to speak, although the person was not slated to do such at the event.

You, Mr Chairman, had no right to disrespect the REO and all persons at the event by calling who you want to speak without notifying the chair of the event or those responsible for putting the programme together.

But yet again that’s the way that your party works because I can recall that from 2015 to 2020, the APNU, which is basically the PNC, while in government, hijacked all of the national and regional events by imposing who should speak and who should not.

As a former RDC councillor of Region Five, I can recall that the then REO and a councillor on the government side said the RDC was not allowing the PPP regional chairman, vice-chairman or councillors to be part of any national events committee meetings or event to take part at regional events as head and members of the RDC.

That was not just done regionally, but also nationally by the then PNC government by rejecting the former opposition members of the PPP to be involved in our national events and celebrations.
The chairman, at no time, said he was assaulted by the REO, but later made that allegation against the individual and went further by reporting the matter to the police. The reason behind this couldn’t be more obvious.

The Region Four RDC chairman had no authority to change the agenda for the regional flag-raising event without notifying anyone, especially the REO who did the right thing by ensuring that the PNC Chairman did not hijack the programme to fit his party’s agenda.

I want to applaud the REO for standing up against the PNC’s Regional Chairman’s bullyism and or hijacking, and want to remind the PNC that there is a saying that goes “duh fuh duh nah obeah.”

Yours respectfully,
Abel Seetaram