Simona is a simarouba

WHEN Simona Broomes read that I have likened her to a simarouba, I guess she will be thinking of her lawyer. I can dispel that intention of hers right away. The word simarouba is not a disparaging or libelous or degrading or humiliating or insulting or demeaning or even embarrassing description.

I thought of applying the word to Simona after I read she launched her political party. So, what is simarouba? It is an American tree that has a bitter bark and ill-shaped leaves. I assigned the word to Simona because I believe her politics is driven by bitterness and her politics has always been ill-shaped.

First, the bitterness. I think she has failed to aspire to higher leadership in the PNC and had a falling out with Aubrey Norton. The inability to rise to the top of the PNC was because of the continuation of her ill-shaped political architecture. As a member of the government, Simona took on the mantle of a street fighter.

She seems to delight in that direction, but it did not occur to her that street fighters in a political party are not normally seen as people to trust with political leadership. Aubrey Norton is an exception but his exceptional circumstances we don’t often see in politics. I will explain that below.

It is a mental shortcoming on the part of Simona not to know that street fighting in political parties and in government though attracting enormous popularity, has its congenital flaws. Party leaders and governmental leaders do come to rely on the aggressive instincts and habitual confrontationist style of their comrade who is seen as a battle-hardened soldier.

But it begins and ends there. The soldier in the trench becomes type-cast. When the street fighter decides he/she wants to elevate their politics and sit at the top of the pyramid, the perception remains – he/she is needed on the streets, the intellectual is needed at the top. The confrontationist soldier in the trench is seen as presumptuous to want to become part of the pyramid.

Simona it seems is not familiar with the history of her own party. If she was aware of the history of the PNC, she would have gone in another direction. We will return to one episode in her political career where her mentality ran wild during the 2020 election nastiness. But first let’s look at the fate of the street fighter in the PNC.

Forbes Burnham came to rely on Hamilton Green to allegedly frighten, torment and violently hurt those who opposed his rule. Green was mistakenly seen as Mr. Burnham’s second in line. This was a huge myth in the 1970s. Why people thought so was because Burnham clothed Green with enormous power. Green was reportedly allowed extensive latitude to commit extremist behaviour with immunity.

But Burnham never had any intention of ever manoeuvring Green into succeeding him. Burnham knew once he, Burnham, could not continue, he would transfer the throne to a highly educated PNC stalwart. For all his deep autocratic instincts, Burnham respected and admired men and women with intellect.

When Desmond Hoyte died, Corbin succeeded him. But even though he had become a lawyer, Corbin never could have shaken off the image of the bad boy of the PNC. And it was an image that was ubiquitous in Guyana. Vincent Alexander, James McAllister and Aubrey Norton could not have brought themselves to accept Corbin as their leader. Alexander challenged Corbin for leader position and Norton’s differences with Corbin ended up in the High Court. Corbin removed Mc Allister as a PNC parliamentarian.

Norton had no opposition when he contested the PNC leadership. The election came a mere 16 months after the PNC lost the government and Norton’s two rivals – Joseph Harmon and Basil Williams – would have lost to any contestant. PNC members did not want them. If there was a credible, educated challenger to Norton in December 2021, Norton would have been beaten. If the PNC’s 2024 congress was open and fair, either Roysdale Forde, Amanza Walton-Desir or Gary Best would have knocked out Norton.

Finally, where was Simona when Sherod Duncan thought he could become the leader of a quintessential Mulatto/Creole party, the AFC? Once Nigel Hughes entered the race, Sherod’s star dropped from the sky and burned up. I guess, we will remember Simone when she went in front of the home of “Guyanese Critic” during the election disaster and kept shouting: “Get it right Claudette, get it right.” She was referring to Claudette Singh, chairperson of GECOM. Simona wanted Claudette to get it right and by right she meant, a PNC victory. To Simona, I say “Get it right Simona, get into Irfaan’s party.”

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.

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