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Granger knows he cannot remove Ramjattan
Dear Editor,
When Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine was relieved and removed from his post as Senior Minister and Minister of Education he was essentially being sacked. He was sacked on the death anniversary of his WPA Party Leader, Dr. Walter Rodney, which was quite a humiliating task for a senior member of the coalition to endure. The honourable doctor was later reassigned to a miniscule ministry in the office of the presidency.
At this point everyone was dumbfounded at this horrific move by the President and what could be his real intentions. Was he ill-advised or was he just a plain bully? Everyone awaited the WPA’s next move as this action of the President constituted nothing more than a crass dose of high-handedness if not bullyism of a junior coalition partner. Roopnaraine and his WPA party were embarrassed.
Now, when the real motive behind the demotion sunk in, that is a deliberate move to belittle him, Dr. Roopnaraine reacted in kind by resigning from his post. In turn this placed the Coalition in serious jeopardy because here you have a situation of 32 votes – even with the main Opposition PPP – something Granger would never countenance. President Granger was in a serious political bind, could he risk the ignominy of being in a powerless position in government?
Well, the answer is a resounding no! Hence the quick damage control move of refusing to accept Dr. Roopnaraine’s resignation letter, as well as cajoling him back into the Coalition fold. Roopnaraine did accept the offer and is now still a member howbeit in a capacity we know not how. Some are of the opinion that he should be reinstated into his substantive position as education minister (that was the real grounds for his resignation) while the die-hards of the PNC/APNU believe that would be sending the wrong message to the populace that the PNC Party is weak.
Be that as it may, the real factual case scenario is, Granger has no choice but to accede to Roopnaraine’s demands because it would mean a sudden crash of the Coalition should he act otherwise. Granger made a very unwise decision to interfere with the fragile coalition structure, failing to realize that such a move had serious repercussions. He acted unwise in flexing his bullying muscle and Roopnaraine reacted flexing his, in essence showing Granger who is really in charge. Roopnaraine was telling Granger in clear cut language, you cannot strong arm your way around even when it comes to a single junior member of the Coalition.
The situation is further compounded with the massive fire and the subsequent prison breakout at Camp Street. The Granger led Coalition is in that worrisome position of what to do next. He has to cope with a failing economy and an equally embarrassing failure of a National Security Minister he cannot touch. Granger would not risk removing Ramjattan for fear of a similar outcome that befell him with the Roopnaraine case. Therefore, Granger is in dire straits as the situation of a Coalition stronghold looks very bleak. Guyana is in an untenable political situation.
Everton Adams
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