Elizabethan waltz of Elizabeth Harper

Mar 04, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Anyone who saw the Elizabeth Harper interview by Olive Gopaul would know that the event hardly had anything to do with journalism, politics or television interviewing. It was a waltz by Mrs. Harper that has harmed her image, damaged her political entry into the election campaign and cast a gloom over her political investment.
Surely I am entitled to express my opinion on the election result. I believe the coalition will win. Why do I think so? We can start with the PR disaster of the Harper/Gopaul charade. The PPP cannot win an election with its PR stupidities. PR idiocy cannot win an election.
I may be wrong but the PPP may have achieved a first with Olive Gopaul.
I cannot recall in any other country except Guyana, the prime ministerial candidate is fronted as a big game-winner and her entry into politics takes the form of a television interview and the interviewer is not a seasoned journalist or experienced media operative. I stand corrected, but in my twenty-six years in journalism, I never heard about Ms. Gopaul practicing journalism.
The interview was simply a waltz by Mrs. -Harper who ought to be ashamed at that performance for someone who is the second biggest name in the PPP’s campaign. Nothing intriguing, curious or politically deep characterized that interview. Mrs. Harper did not come across as someone with political purpose and political passion.
She came across in fact (my opinion of course) as an apolitical person. Mrs. Harper’s counterpart in the campaign is Moses Nagamootoo and you have to feel sorry for this lady. Of course, there is the theory that she will win out against Nagamootoo because of the gender factor. I doubt it when it comes to this particular lady.
Yes, the world wants to see historical justice for women. Yes, the world thinks politics is too male dominated. Yes the world is excited with women candidates, but not just because the candidate is a woman. You have to be a woman that is a good representation of gender in politics.
Look who are the two big names floating around in US politics? First there is the aggressive, confrontational Hillary Clinton. The other woman is seen by political observers as far more liberal and maverick than any politician from the Democratic Party the past 100 years –Elizabeth Warren. Warren is a radical in the Democratic Party far more than Barack Obama ever was.
I would put the interview as her entry into politics because see actually spoke. Her entry should have been the press conference where her candidacy was announced. Again the PPP has scored a first here. Where in the world is a prime ministerial candidate announced to a nation and the candidate is as silent as a lamb. Not a word was spoken by the candidate.
The commonsensical thing for Mrs. Harper to have done was to speak and say the following words, “I thank those who reposed confidence in me, I hope the Guyanese people accept me as their Prime Minister and I will be speaking to my fellow Guyanese shortly, thank you.” I toyed with the caption of this column. Initially I thought of, “The Silence of the Lamb.”
It is completely unacceptable to a nation that the country sees the unveiling of the person who could be the next Prime Minister, and that person failed to utter even one sentence.
The interview was not a disaster as the press conference, but what would certainly be a massive catastrophe is if Mrs. Harper’s PR is managed by Kwame Mc Coy. I am not a political supporter of Mrs. Harper and will not vote for her, but I would give her friendly advice – stay clear of Mr. Mc Coy.
In the interview Mrs. Harper tried to play on sentiments by mentioning her abusive husband (on Sunday after the Guyana Press Association (GPA) election, I was told Mr. Pollard has rejected that accusation by his former wife). Mrs. Harper also mentioned her early pregnancy. Those mishaps do not qualify you to run a nation. The requirements citizens look for is strong sense of right and wrong. Also the instinct of humane care of and humane protection for the less endowed.
Is Mrs. Harper possessed of these qualities? If she has then why is she campaigning for a political party that has no humanity about it? After the election of the GPA, I was told that few Guyanese know that Mrs. Harper is the only survival of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after 1992 when the PPP went on a witch hunt. What does that tell you? My answer – she was always a PPP supporter.

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