Now Harmon is compared to Kellawan Lall

Apr 12, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I have been following reports in the press related to what has been dubbed, in some quarters as ‘The Harmon-gate’ fiasco with a feeling of `déjà vu’ and I am wondering: Is Minister Joe Harmon the ‘Kellawan Lall’ of the APNU-AFC coalition? Is this ‘Presque vu’?
As I recall, the former minister in the PPP/C administration Mr. Kellawan Lall, not known for his agility of mind or his elegant turn of phrase, made some awkward comments about the city council that revealed embarrassingly the true strategy of the PPP/C administration towards the City Council. Similarly, Minister Joe Harmon with his infamous “No apologies” comment also revealed the true self-serving strategies of the APNU-AFC administration: Greed, not GREEN, is Good! Surely, the two personalities seem to have something in common.
The First Red Flag that Minister Joseph Harmon raised was when he was in Parliament and falsely accused the PPP/C parliamentarians of uplifting their salaries while they boycotted parliament. “Give it up. Give it up. Give it up! “ he urged the PPP/C opposition, with the thunderous bench-thumping support of his colleagues. It was a gross misrepresentation of the facts. It was a lie. The Speaker of the House, Dr. Bartland Scotland, prevailed upon by no other than Ms. Gail Teixeira, urged Mr. Harmon to retract his false assertions. Reluctantly, he did so.
I refer to this incident, not because it was essentially a gross misrepresentation, but because it is stupid to knowingly and publicly assert a falsehood that was so quickly and easily proven to be false! Wasn’t Mr. Harmon aware that there was live streaming of his presentation!
What was the PPP/C’s response to the awkward situation they found themselves in as a result of Lall’s reckless revelations? They used the famous ‘Burnham Ploy’ — the lateral shift — and posted Lall as Ambassador to Brazil. Will the Granger administration take similar action and use the effective ‘Burnham Ploy’ and give Harmon a diplomatic post as payoff for his long years of service to the party?
If I were a member of the PPP/C, I would encourage Ms. Gail Teixeira and Mr. Bharat Jagdeo to argue in support of the Granger-led administration to keep Mr. Joe Harmon as the Minister of State, the go-to person in the Ministry of the Presidency? Why?
Because the “no apologies Minister” together with the “Not-on-the-Books Minister” have caused more political damage to the image of the APNU-AFC than the combined efforts of Teixeira, Rohee and Jagdeo over the past 9 months! According to a famous person, there is nothing more dangerous than and as implacable as an incompetent associate.
Another reason why the PPP/C should support the retention of Minister Joe Harmon as the Minister of State within the Ministry of the Presidency is based on sound scientific theory. We may know it as the ‘where there is smoke, there is fire’ theory. Who among us have not, time and time again, validated that theory? The question is: what more awkward revelations are likely to come out of the mouth of Minister Joe Harmon?
Still another reason why the PPP/C trio of Texeira, Rohee and Jagdeo should vigorously support the retention of Minister Joe Harmon is based on sound military strategic thinking. According to the world famous military strategist, Sun Tzu, victory is often achieved, not by the brilliance of one side, but by the mistakes the other side makes. The PPP/C should picket the presidency with slogans reading: “Keep Harmon! Keep Harmon! Keep Harmon!”
The irony of the current situation is that the Granger-led administration has so many military trained officers in its administration, all of whom have studied the military doctrines of Sun Tzu, yet they continue on the path of serial blunders. According to Dr. Peter Lawrence, famous author of “The Peter Principle,” in any hierarchical organization, persons are promoted to their level of incompetence. One lesson to be learnt from this situation is not that pitch-forking party supporters into positions of power and influence is bad, but retaining them merely because of their loyalty is pure folly.The Granger-led administration should learn from the mistakes of its predecessors: they were the architects of their own defeat.
Finally, Dear Editor, I am wondering how the head of an administration can say that a minister is competent when no formal evaluation, based on objectively verifiable and measurable criteria, of that minister’s performance over the past 10 or 11 months was done ?
Apparently we have ex-changed Twiddle Dee for Twiddle-Dumb! Respectfully
Richard Cohen
Citizen of Guyana

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