The PNC has its knee firmly on the neck of democracy

Jul 15, 2020 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Congratulations on your coverage of events leading up to, and particularly after our 2020 General and Regional Elections of 2nd March. Although it deserves an entire book, and since I am not intellectually endowed, I’ll stick to a few concise points (also taking space into account) in this, my first and hopefully last, political missive.
For starters, what now masquerades as APNU+AFC is what it has always been – PNC. Even Stanley Ming recently put himself on public display as to how ‘reformed’ he and the PNC have always been. Ditto for the PPP – never mind that Civic business.
A few concerned commentators and writers have posited that mischief was afoot since President Granger unilaterally appointed his Chairman of GECOM. I beg to differ, since their mantra upon accession to office in 2015 was de jure divino (the divine right to rule) which is centuries old and of which the likes of Thomas Hobbes and Freddie Kissoon know much more than I do. With that mindset, a Ministry of Births, Registration, Deaths etc. was established to service GECOM as appropriate, the Prime Minister became the PNC Minister of PNC Propaganda (Goebbels if you wish) and the Home Affairs Minister became Minister of Prisons and Fire Service, notwithstanding their lofty designations. Polish that off with up to 50% salary increases before some could settle into a proper office desk and chair, and with other consequential benefits (pensions etc.), the stage was set. And besides why settle for a dozen when two dozen will do? King David or King Arthur was then set to rule forever.
I will not dwell on the elections figures – the world knows since March 3 that the PPP won by more than 15000 valid votes (as per SOPs), only those 458 ballot boxes for Region 4 were not officially declared by GECOM. Not being decisive then led to more than four months of shenanigans engineered by the Divine Right Dream Team aka the Core Rigging Cabal, which I understand consists of four GDF personnel headed by the highest ranking one, four lawyers and four sycophants who all call themselves political strategists and scientists. Did the much touted ‘Iron’ disappear from the Lady then? Be that as it may, we have presently come full circle and can no longer pretend Article 161 (a) and Article 162(1) (b) do not exist. While character assassination is at full throttle (the Cabal is working on the CCJ now), the GECOM Chair should know she has a long list of supporters of democracy and the free will of the people from local, national, regional, hemispheric governments and a wide array of organisations too numerous to mention. I may have missed the Caribbean Council of Churches but I’m sure someone like Bishop Edghill can throw some light on this. Please permit me Editor, to just note the contribution of the Secretary General of the United Nations in support and as we all know Guyana is a U.N member as so is almost every country on this planet, sparsely populated or not.
As for the honesty, decency, integrity, and some say religiosity with which the PNC has clothed and cloaked itself, they should know that every such raiment has been torn to shreds. How is it that eventually they will have any moral standing before a legitimate government or international body tattered or naked to represent those who voted for them and still support them, now far less than 217,000, is a question I ponder but cannot answer? A practical definition of those qualities, however, can be found in no other than Madam Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados and until recently CARICOM Chair. Exactly one month before the Elections, she was bestowed Guyana’s highest National Honour (OR). What was not publicly stated was by the Sanctimonious One was “this is to ensure your support for my continuation in office.” Ms. Mottley has since shown him that he chose the wrong partner for criminal wrong-doing and let her actions show what constitutes honesty, decency and integrity. As a beacon of democracy, a statue in her honour should be erected in her front yard in Barbados (for there is where the Secretariat is likely to be relocated). The three CARICOM Scrutineers should similarly be accorded ‘Hall of Fame’ status for their ‘Forty Days and Forty Nights’ sacrifice to help us get out of this PNC – manufactured quagmire. Not forgetting our own Dominic Gaskin, who I assume is tying up his last days with what is left of the AFC, as well as the Assistant Commissioner of Police for professional conduct at Ashmin’s building for which he has had to pay a heavy price.
Justice Adrian Saunders has always stood tall in the brief history of the CCJ but was made, even taller when after last Wednesday’s decision, Granger came out of State House to rile up a few supporters about dead people voting but was dangerously pathetic that he would have to be coerced to accept losing. In my view, Justice Saunders doesn’t see the need to coerce a Head-of-State who proclaims belief in and adherence to the Constitution, Laws, and Democratic Values, etc. Sadly Granger has proved otherwise, so Bob Marley comes to mind. The other perversity from an overseas acolyte is to burn the ballot boxes and install the loser as President and the winner as Prime Minister. Well, even jokes have limits and as Eddie Layne recently pointed out, all you do is summon an acolyte every five years, hand him your figures to show whether you ‘won’ by 2/3 or ½ of what you think as total valid votes, and presto! But the CCJ has made it very clear – the PNC flag will not fly there!
The current two-pronged strategy: (1) ‘Heads I win, tails you lose’ is translated as ‘If I’m the winner, the Election is fraud-free; if I’m the loser, its fraudulent and would either permit me to remain in power or we have new Elections! This should cause enough obfuscation in dealing with GECOM and other legal technicalities to be manufactured while (2) Death threat allegations would paint them as victims being hounded as arson and other criminalities increase along with prison breakouts to cull a new band of ‘Freedom Fighters’. Whether this is a ‘scorched earth’ tactic, we shall have to wait to see, but Joe Hamilton was clear the other evening to point out the supporters of the PNC have never been as asset-rich before and that should engender respect for the property of others.
Finally the PNC’s re-born moralist recently reminded that ‘…a leopard never changes its spots’ and that’s exactly why I refer to the PNC as…well, the PNC. It however sinks to depths of depravity when he invokes Slavery, the two World Wars, and yes, even George Floyd’s murder in the U.S. as some kind of cover for what’s now taking place here. Everyone knows the PNC has its knee firmly on the neck of democracy. This has to end. Now. The perpetrators, facilitators, and beneficiaries must be dealt with condignly – both here and abroad. Dr. Gonsalves and CARICOM should by now also be working on a Sanctions List.
Yours truly,
Jagdat Persaud

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