-says incoming opposition leader did not contribute in any way

THE We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party is once again facing criticism for its political opportunism, and this time, Linden trade unionist and NAACIE representative Lorenzo Joseph bluntly called out the party for taking credit for the recent pay deal that BOSAI workers themselves fought to secure.

In a Facebook post that remained undeleted up to press time on Thursday, the sister of incoming opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed, who identifies herself on social media as Hana Khamelia, credited her brother’s party for the pay deal that was struck between BOSAI and the workers.

She wrote in a Facebook post: “Following intervention of the incoming WIN Opposition led by Azruddin Mohamed and subsequent widespread public outrage, BOSAI workers in Region 10 have secured a 7.5% pay increase, improved benefits, and a further 8 % raise next year.”

However, this claim was later rejected, with Joseph exposing it for being misleading.

In a comment under a Facebook post, he wrote: “The incoming Opposition Leader did not contribute in any way possible in we the workers at Bosai securing 7.5% for this year and 8% for next year. I am saying this with no reservation, his intervention, as you may want to call it, did not impact the outcome of our negotiation in no [way] possible.

“It was the workers that made up the negotiation team alone with the general president and general secretary of the union fought relentlessly for everything we got at the ministry of labour and manpower at the [conciliatory] talks. So, to say his intervention contributed for us securing what we got is not totally false.”

The deal guarantees BOSAI workers a 7.5 per cent increase this year, and 8 per cent next year. ​

The dispute highlights a recurring pattern for the WIN party, which critics have stated has a penchant for claiming credit for other people’s work.

Just recently, former A New and United Guyana (ANUG) executive Althia King accused WIN of betraying the terms of the agreement between the two parties.

She was referring to WIN’s announcement of its team that will be heading into parliament, which included no representative from its partner, ANUG.

According to reports, King took to social media and noted that a draft of the proposed legally-binding contract between WIN and ANUG promised one parliamentary seat if WIN secured at least five seats, and two seats if it won 16 seats.

“Despite those doubts, many of us hoped for the best for ANUG, and kept an intent watch on WIN’s pursuit to succeed in the elections,” King said in the post, adding:
“Naturally, we all hoped those sacrifices would at least amount to something that could give us some form of gratification for what essentially tore the party apart.”

Mark DeFrance, the leader of ANUG, which had joined forces with WIN ahead of the elections, shared the photo, but he was not listed as a Member of Parliament for the party.

Many persons in the comments section of the post highlighted the fact that ANUG’s representation among the 16 was missing, with some questioning DeFrance why he was not part of that list.

One individual questioned, “What was the purpose of your ‘partnership’ really?”

DeFrance, in responding to one comment, which asked where ANUG’s representation is in the lineup, only said, “Right there,” but offered no insight as to who those  representatives are.

ANUG joined forces with WIN, which US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed formed at the end of June.

At the time, two founding members of the small party, Ralph Ramkarran and Timothy Jonas, announced their resignations from the party when it was absorbed by WIN.