Georgia on my mind

Nov 12, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A lot of attention has been paid to President Granger’s recent remarks to his North American supporters. The President was in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is reported to have called for the party faithful to stop attacking the leader of the party.
He also made other comments, such as he does not want elitism in the party. The PNC, of course, has historically been an elitist party. Its leadership has traditionally been dominated by the middle class. Its support base has been grassroots, but the leadership has always been middle class. So if there is any attempt at dumping elitism in the party, this must begin within the leadership.
The question that raised eyebrows was when the President asked the supporters what the party needs to do to hold on to power after 2020. The better question is not what they need to do, but what they will do.
President Granger will find that he cannot take the Diaspora for granted. They have their own opinion and they will express it.
One of the changes that we are seeing coming from the Diaspora has been a willingness to criticize the political leadership of both APNU and the AFC. This is a welcome political development which unfortunately has always been seen as attacking the party and creating disunity. Anytime any serious criticisms are made of party policy, this is rejected on the grounds that those making the criticisms are promoting disunity.
The local supporters of the PNCR and the AFC do not publicly criticize their leadership, because they feel that this will affect their relationship with the party and strengthen the hand of the PPPC. So they see wrongdoing and do not protest or object.
It is not so much so with overseas-based Guyanese. They have less to lose and therefore they express themselves openly about what is happening in society. Unfortunately, the local political leadership rather than seeing this as criticism which should be taken on board, they view it as an attack on the leadership of the party. And they try to dismiss and mollify the criticism on the basis that it is divisive and will weaken the party.
If properly handled, criticism can strengthen a party. It is a sure test of internal democracy within a party when there is internal criticism.
There has been a schism within the PNCR support base in New York. This is an open secret. There is one faction which is concerned about the way it is being treated by the government, and in particular by the President. And there is another group, more closely affiliated to persons within the Guyana Consulate, which is not as concerned.
New York is where the bulk of the supporters of the PNCR reside. If any North American Conference of the PNCR is to be held, it should be held in New York, because this is where tens of thousands of hardcore PNCR supporters reside.
However, there is a problem with New York. As mentioned, there is a section of the PNCR support base in New York – and it is a large section – who are peeved with the leadership of the PNCR. They have expressed themselves because, unlike some of their fellow supporters in Guyana, they really have nothing to lose. They are not asking the government for any favours. They are not looking for any jobs. Most of them are financially independent and do not need anything from the government. They support their party, but they will not stand for disrespect and ‘eyepass’. They are not living in Guyana and therefore not as circumspect about seeming to split ranks as their local counterparts are.
And so the PNCR leadership, concerned about the divisions in New York, will end up moving the centre of gravity of the North America support base from New York to Atlanta. The PNCR leadership feels more comfortable dealing with the Georgians than it does with New Yorkers. And so the North American Conference was hosted this year in Georgia. It was a calculated move.
This will not stop the New Yorkers from criticizing the leadership of the party. The leadership of the party has to stop dodging the rank and file support in New York. No one in New York wants to change the leadership of the PNCR. They just want to be respected. But they are being not respected and until this happens the leadership of the PNCR will have a lot more to complain about.

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