SOME things are so obvious that most of us assume everyone knows them. For example, did you know that when you vote on election day, you are doing your civic duty to employ a civil servant? That person is seeking your vote to serve you and the nation, with honesty, integrity and dedication, in accordance with the laws and Constitution of Guyana. In other words, your vote on September 1 is like hiring someone for a job.
Even if it were a paint job, most of us would ask for references, some experience, basic competency, and timeliness, even as we factor in what it would cost. Now, translate this into political office. The stakes are higher, and just imagine, you can’t fire the person until the next election cycle in 2030.
So, say you were to ask the current roster of candidates seeking your vote for their resumes. You want to know their qualifications before deciding whether to hire them to serve you, your family and your community for the next five years. If you vet properly, the candidates of the governing party should be at the top of your list. You don’t have to like the colour of their shirt, or whether they can jive to a hip hop track. Those aren’t the criteria.
Last Monday, I observed the steady rally of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) from Freedom House to Umana Yana. I walked through the thick of PNC/APNU supporters at the exact moment that their leaders arrived to submit the party’s list of candidates. No one pushed or jostled me. I wasn’t wearing colours, but I clearly didn’t belong, yet I felt at home like I was in Albouystown, where I was born and raised.
At some point, I circled to the Pegasus side of Umana Yana and found myself near the AFC, ALP and Forward Party. Their music was loud as if to compensate for the thin cast huddled around their leaders. A soundtrack praising Nigel Hughes blared from an old rickety car. Then came the blue shirts of Azruddin Mohamed’s WIN Party. To create the illusion of larger numbers, WIN supporters arrived in waves, fooling Kaieteur News, which described it as a “massive crowd,” and Stabroek Newspaper described it as the “largest contingent.” From this eye-witness viewpoint, their arrival was deliberately orchestrated to give the impression of a large number of supporters.
I was on the lookout for Azruddin, and so was every journalist at Umana Yana. I asked at least half a dozen blue shirts as they gyrated up the seawall from the Kitty roundabout, where was Azruddin? They stared at me, clueless. Stuck at the guardrails, Azruddin’s sister was peppered with questions by reporters eager to get an insight into WIN’s list of candidates. Unable to stave off the questions, she pulled out her phone and read a prepared statement that felt as if it was written by AI.
I thought Azruddin might eventually show in the Lamborghini Roadster SVJ he under-declared in December 2020. Readers might recall that he declared the value at US$75,300. The U.S. Justice Department’s evidence showed that he paid US$695,000.
Beyond the crime of making a false declaration, Azruddin avoided paying about GY$383 million in taxes for that one Lamborghini. When the law caught up with him and he was arrested and released on $500,000 bail, he formed a political party and named himself a presidential candidate.
When Azruddin finally showed up minutes before the 2 PM deadline, it was to the roar of about a dozen motorcycles, on the opposite side from his sister, her husband and disappointed blue shirts. He appeared defiant, claiming he is “for the people,” when in fact he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has never worked a day in his life.
Azruddin nor his sister ever declared who WIN’s prime ministerial candidate is, but Norton dared to compare the credentials of his candidate for PM, Juretha Fernandes, to President Irfaan Ali. It was asinine. Juretha’s claim to fame was, for about a year, being the confidential secretary to former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, dubbed the “rubber stamp PM.” In other words, he was a do-nothing prime minister and Granger’s “yes-man.”
Line up Norton, currently being polished by a U.S. image consultant to look the part of an opposition leader, alongside Azruddin, Hughes, Amanza Walton-Desir, Simona Broomes, and Juretha Fernandes, and their combined experience wouldn’t fill the palm of a single cabinet minister in President Ali’s government.
It would be futile to spell out President Ali’s formidable accomplishments before he took office. Just reflect on the sheer number of former and current members of the so-called opposition who are now backing him for a second term – 16 and counting. The most recent, Jermaine Figueira, the MP who cursed Charrandas Persaud in Parliament during the 2018 no-confidence vote that brought down the Granger government. Just yesterday, he told Kiana Wilburg he would be campaigning for President Ali’s re-election.

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.