Granger succumbed to the AFC’s bold bluff

Jan 11, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Over the past two years this columnist was told by several powerful figures in the PNC leadership that (1) – the AFC can no longer bring in meaningful numbers of votes and thus should not be allowed the same latitude it was given in the 2014 Cummingsburg Accord; and (2), the PNC does not want Khemraj Ramjattan to be awarded the PM slot.
These people I spoke to knew what they were talking about. These were the decisions of the PNC. By 2019, it was clear from my sources that the PNC will not move from these two positions.
Two PNC ministers told me in September 2019 that the AFC could nominate Ramjattan every day as their PM guy but the PNC will not accept him.
The PNC’s post-2017 attitude to the AFC reflected what independent analysts and countless Guyanese believed – the AFC had become a hugely diminished force without sustainability.
Most observers knew that the PNC would not have renewed the Accord without seriously cutting many of the 2014 endowments the AFC got.
The demon that destroyed the AFC’s credibility was its virtual devastation in the November 2018 local government election (LGE). The PNC had made up its mind that the AFC had now just symbolic value and not electoral viability.
The 2018 LGE result was an insane act of political violence against the AFC. A party with seven Cabinet Ministers including the office of the Prime Minister and twelve parliamentarians contested 38 local government authorities and lost all with the villages of the Prime Minister and Khemraj Ramjattan rejecting both men.
As the dialogue to renew the Accord dragged on, the PNC was simply not interested. The PNC resorted to a stratagem – delay agreement as much as possible and set the conclusion near to the 2020 poll so the AFC would not have time to enter the election battle on its own if it decided to walk away in dissatisfaction.
But the AFC got wind of the stratagem and confronted the PNC in November. They gave the PNC a deadline. But the PNC wasn’t biting. The PNC was sticking with its two inflexible positions – greatly reduced benefits and no Ramjattan.
Up to this point the entire PNC leadership had called the bluff of the AFC – we will not panic if you decide to break away and go it alone. The tight attitude of the PNC created divisions in the AFC leadership.
This leadership is essentially a six man formation – Trotman, Ramjattan, Nagamootoo, Cathy Hughes, Patterson and Dominic Gaskin. From February of last year, Trotman took a low keyed role while Nagamootoo virtually exited the AFC.
The people behind the confabulation to renew the Accord were the four named above. Worn down by the PNC’s insistence, the gang of four settled for the following in the renewed Accord; (1) Granger will be the leader of the list; (2) there will no longer be specific ministries earmarked for any particular party; (3) all ministers and parliamentarians will ultimately be chosen by the president; (4) the ratio of distribution of assignments will be 70/30; and (5) the PM will come from the AFC but no names should be made public until after the elections.
Enter the labyrinth of confusion. Last week, after the official launch of the campaign of the coalition at D’Urban Park, the gang of four suspected that the PNC will make Nagamootoo the PM if they win and that Trotman on his own had some type of input.
The gang of four then set about to confront the PNC into naming Ramjattan. But the PNC was unmoved. Some leaders went so far as to say that the AFC can go to hell and pull out of they want to. The thinking behind this was solid – the AFC cannot run on its own, it knows it will be embarrassed in front of the world.
Then Granger on Wednesday morning confirmed the suspicion of the gang of four. He publicly announced that he will name the PM after election. That same day, the gang of four met in a building on Campbell Avenue between Stone Avenue and Sheriff Street. No one else was invited. The gloves were off. The gang of four decided to bluff its way. It decided to try a thing. The idea was just to try a thing.
David Patterson was to inform Joe Harmon that unless Granger names Ramjattan not as soon as possible but right “this afternoon”, the AFC would pull out of the coalition for 2020 that very afternoon. All PNC leaders knew about the bluff. But in a strange twist of fate, Granger fell for it. He erred disastrously.

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