THE HAMMER IS COMING!

Jan 06, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Does the leadership of the PPP really expect the party faithful to believe that there is not widespread disaffection over the relationship between the party and the government, and specifically about the way in which certain senior party members are being treated?
Does the leadership expect us to believe that all is well within the party? Is the leadership also suggesting that there is no right of members of the party to question the actions of the government? Any member of the ruling party has a right to criticize the government and to express concerns about the marginalization of the party from the affairs of the administration.
It is one thing for the party to condemn as divisive, the call for a third term for the President.
This is understandable, since the party has a position as regards respect for the constitution.
But it is another thing for the party to deem as wolves in sheep’s clothing those who question the treatment by the Jagdeo administration of longstanding members of the party. The members have a right to question the actions of the government and to call to the attention of the public, the departure of the party from the ideals of its founders.
The party has a position of adherence to the constitution, but the party cannot deny the right to members to express their concerns about the relationship between the party and the government.
The public is not going to be fooled that everything is well between the party and the government. Everything is not well and has not been well for a long time.
When certain government advertisements were pulled from the Stabroek News, the entire leadership was not happy with this development.
There have been other things taking place with which certain leaders have been most unhappy and therefore it is foolhardy for the PPP leadership to project the impression that all is cozy and nice within the ruling party.
It is not. There are persons within the PPP who are concerned about what is taking place.
There are others who are scared because they have seen what has happened to Comrade Navin and they are afraid that the same fate may befall them if they speak out.
There are persons who feel that they may be next in line and therefore they are being careful and vigilant about what they say and what they do.
There is serious conflict raging within the PPP and it is no use pretending that things are cohesive. The members have their ears to the ground and they know what is taking place.
They know of the ambitions and the power struggle that is taking place; they know about the sidelining of the party and the controversies that are raging within the government and within the party.
Unity has always been the strength of the PPP. But unity does not mean that there should never be differences. Within any house there are bound to be differences and each person must assert their right to their own opinions.
Those members who placed the advertisement in the Kaieteur News must now be questioning whether anyone within the party takes their right to differ seriously.
For even if the views expressed in that ad represented a minority, the party should respect the right of those persons to differ and should seek reconciliation rather than attempting to label these individuals as wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The party is not going to split over the problem with Comrade Navin, but also the concerns of the membership cannot be easily suppressed by resorting to denial.
It is acceptable that the President or whoever has a right to terminate the services of any of his advisers, regardless of whether that person is a leader of the party or a simple member. But there is a more fundamental issue involved.
That issue is that Comrade Navin’s incident took place at a time when there have been reports that all is not well between the government and the party, and more critically, when there is a competition for the nomination of the party’s Presidential candidate.
Comrade Navin was not the first and he will not be the last of the PPP leaders to feel the pressure.
The hammer is going to come down on others, because this is what political competition breeds. Politics is not a bed of roses.
And therefore pretending that everything is right within the party is self–destructive. There will be persons who will be cast into the wilderness as the competition for the nomination of the party’s presidential candidate intensifies. And in recognition of this, the membership surely must have a right to speak out against what they perceive is taking place in the relationship between the party and the government.

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