A prediction of betrayal

Oct 30, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
The recent appointment of Justice Patterson to the Chairmanship of the Elections Commission is not to rebuff the persons submitted by the Leader of the Opposition to the President.
The President and most of Guyana know that some of the persons on the three lists submitted are eminently qualified to make a good Chairman. So why didn’t the President select any of those persons? I am not a fortune-teller, but I will try to present my predictions in very clear terms.
The Elections Commission as constituted will deliberate on the need to change some portions of the election laws. One of the provisions that they will deliberate on is to change the method currently in use to count the votes in the general elections. They will lay out all of the problems the commission experienced in past elections with respect to the votes being counted at the place of polls. Some of the problems that they will identify are:
(a) no signatures from Presiding Officers,
(b) no good co-ordination between the polling site and the Returning Officer,
(c) the length of time it takes to compile the list of the votes tally from the Presiding Officer to the Returning Officer to the Commission, and so on.
You get the message. They will come up with very convincing arguments to change this practice.
The Elections Commission cannot change the laws, but by a majority vote of 4:3 the Commission will recommend these changes to the Government. They would recommend that the votes should be counted at a central location. Do you see where I am going? Do you see why Granger appointed Patterson?
Having accepted the recommendation, the Government will draft a bill to effect these changes (i.e. if the bill has not already been drafted). Now the AFC parliamentarians will have to support the Government bill. They will have to vote in favour of the bill in the House. What will they do?
Let us not forget that the Cummingsburg Accord binds the parties for a minimum of three years. This will end on Valentine’s Day in 2018. There is no compulsion for APNU/PNC to continue to honour this accord after this date. Will we see a replay of Burnham/D’Aguiar accord?
The AFC is aware that the leader of the list that APNU/AFC submitted to the Elections Commission can remove anyone currently serving in Parliament from that list. He can then replace the persons “recalled” with other persons on the list. The persons who are chosen to replace the “recalled” members of parliament do not have to be the names of any AFC member on the list.
Once “recalled” from the list, and not being a Member of Parliament, you will not be eligible to be a Minister of the Government. Is this coming soon?
To forecast future revenues and earnings, any Accountant will tell you that we have to look at the past performance of the company. What can we use to gauge our forecast of the PNC and the Granger Government in particular? For the PNC, they use the resources available to them to change the laws, and then discard those resources when they no longer serve their interest.
Burnham used D’Aguiar to gain power, then dispose of him. Will we have a repeat of this with the AFC?
Burnham used Jagan to get critical support in Parliament to nationalise every sector of the economy, and then employed PNCites to run these sectors. The PPP takes power and employed PPPites. The end result is what we are still feeling today. The appointments made by the Granger Government over the last two years are a replica of these curses.
Recently, on the anniversary of the death of Guyana most beloved politician, Dr. Walter Rodney, the Granger Government demoted the only WPA minister of the government. Was this a trial run for what will happen after the Cummingsburg Accord expires? This is not good news for the AFC. Watch out guys, your days are coming.
I am hoping that my predictions are all wrong, but as we learn in life, “prepare for the worst, and hope for the best”. I must also confess that I was a supporter of the AFC and diligently believed that Granger and Nagamoottoo would have worked to transform our country and to make us all proud of being Guyanese.
Their glowing speeches during the elections are now water on ducks’ back. I am disappointed in myself.
Being a Certified Public Accountant, I should have known better. My analysis of these “Opportunists” was wrong, for they have betrayed my trust and that of the majority of Guyanese.
Mr. President, you have time to change course. Please revisit the promises you made to the Guyanese people in your pre-election speeches and the Accord you signed with the AFC.
Sincerely,
Charles Sugrim

1 thoughts on “A prediction of betrayal”

Kassem_B October 30, 2017 at 1:04 am

‘ I must also confess that I was a supporter of the AFC and diligently believed that Granger and Nagamoottoo would have worked to transform our country and to make us all proud of being Guyanese.
Their glowing speeches during the elections are now water on ducks’ back. I am disappointed in myself.’
Charles
Our entire life is a learning process and we must continue that process, strive to improve and to make a positive contributions, and must be fearless to speak up.

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