David Patterson: The oxymoronic political life of a failed politician

Oct 01, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Mr. David Patterson did a strange thing a few days ago. He resigned from the elected position of General Secretary (GS) of the AFC because of a violation of an agreed position with the PNC that he, Patterson, negotiated. The agreement was that in each Region that the APNU+AFC won, the deputy chairperson would come from the AFC.
I chose to use the word strange because of the nature of the resignation. If your partner reneged on an agreement, why choose to stay in parliament with that same partner? Why resign the GS post and not your membership? So your party is emasculated and did not come to your rescue but you chose to stay with those very colleagues and continue to represent that party in the House.
That maybe a strange act but here is where the comical part comes in. Why Patterson thinks he will earn respect and receive plaudits from people in and outside of Guyana because of the display of a so-called principled stance? The AFC is devoid of principles and ethics that positive human beings value, so in the end Patterson may end up looking comical when the AFC’s record is laid bare.
We start with the power victory in 2015 then will skip across to Patterson’s friends – Clairmont Mingo, Keith Lowenfield, Khemraj Ramjattan, Raphael Trotman, and ironically Dominic Gaskin. Mr. Patterson is yet to face the public and tell Guyanese if it was principled behaviour when his colleagues, at the time of selecting Cabinet assignments in May 2015, called a certain woman who didn’t campaign for the AFC and offered her the position of Minister of the Environment thus overlooking stalwarts who deserved better.
Question 2 – what was the quarrel between you and Nigel Hughes when in 2016 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre where a retreat was held and the sole topic was the expansive and mountainous power allocation of the Minister of the Presidency? The decision to ask for a curtailment of Harmon’s portfolios was accepted by the retreat attendees but the next day, Hughes resigned. Why did he resign? Why didn’t you resign when the PNC rejected the request to trim Harmon’s portfolio?
Question 3 – In the five years of power, why didn’t you or the AFC publicly come clean with the Guyanese people, both here and abroad, over the cancellation of the amendment to the anti-narcotic legislation? It was drafted by Hughes and put on the Order Paper of the House under the rubric of the AFC, to be read in the name of AFC parliamentarian, Michael Carrington
Question 4 – In what can be interpreted as one of the most disgraceful deceits by a politician both from colonial times and after Independence, Ramjattan addressed his ministerial staff, conceded that the APNU+AFC lost the election, gave a farewell speech, then a few days after denied the entire episode which was recorded and which I think you have heard. Why didn’t you resign over having such a disgrace as your leader?
Question 5 – Do you agree with what Mingo did at the GECOM head office on Friday, March 13, 2020 when he announced faked tabulation using a dirty bed sheet, a piece of cardboard and a half-dead projector? You consider it a principled stand to be part of that circus?
Question 6 – Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, submitted six different election’s results. Why did you not see it as a matter of principle and reject what Lowenfield declared?
Question 7 – Trotman announced for the world to hear that once the CEO has arrived at his tabulation, his conclusion cannot be challenged by any human in Guyana and there is no law or constitutional provision that can be cited to overturn his figures. Do you agree with that asinine masturbation?
Question 8 – Do you believe that David Granger is a US citizen? I would only say that I would like to see Granger’s proof that he is not. Why would Michael Granger, a Guyanese employed by your outfit, APNU+AFC, who tried to persuade influential American personnel that APNU+AFC won the 2020 poll, refer to Granger as an American citizen?
Question 9 – Did you take out licenses for your dogs when your government in the 2018 budget announced that owners with more than three dogs must take out a license for each? I know you have four dogs. Can you show me that you abided by your own government’s regulation?
Final question – Your principled friend, Gaskin, said that AFC leaders did not see the statements of poll; they were in the possession of APNU. Have you seen them? In fact, I heard you are in possession of them.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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