The PNC/R is seeking political credibility at the expense of the PPP/C

Dec 03, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – Race has always been used by the PNC/R for political purposes. It has been deployed, at times, for three purposes: first to stir unrest; second as a mobilising tactic by appealing to the notion of victimhood to restore tattered political credibility; and third as a weapon against the PPP/C.
At present there is a controversy over statements made by the Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Mr. Charles Ramson Jnr. The Minister has denied the imputations which are being made against him.
He has promised to make public the recording of the statements which are now being used as a weapon against him. The publication of the recording would allow for a better understanding of the context in which the statements were made.
He has not done so as yet on his Facebook page and therefore one has to use media reports about what he said. One such report was provided by the social media outfit, News Source Guyana.
It quoted the Minister as saying, “I think that in the black community, young black kids also need lots of examples of success because they have to be able to see that there is a pathway in order for them to live that successful life.”
This statement is now being spun to claim that the Minister was saying that there are no role models within the African community. This interpretation is a disingenuous spin.
How can saying that young Black kids need lots of role models means that there are no role models. If I were to say that I need lots of money, does it necessarily mean that I have no money? No, it does not and therefore it is disingenuous to interpret Ramson’s statement as meaning that there are no role models in the African community.
In 2008, the then representative of the Guyana Action Party, Everall Franklin told the National Assembly that there was “scarcity of male role models.” There was no hue and cry about that statement.
Similarly the Guyana Chronicle in 2008 reported the then Deputy Mayor of Georgetown, Akeem Peter, as informing the inaugural Guyana National Youth Conference that there were not enough good examples and therefore young people need to create examples for future generations. There was no outburst then that we have sufficient role models.
The APNU+AFC in its 2015 Manifesto recognised the need for role models. It promised to establish a cadre of positive role models throughout society. When the APNU+AFC coalition was in office, it launched a Natural Resources Mentorship Programme in recognition of the need for mentors in this sector. Did this imply that there were no mentors in the sector? No, it did not.
The Minister of the Public Service, under the APNU+AFC, was quoted on a Ministry of Education website as saying at a community engagement at Samatta Point that “young people need role models.”
In an OP-Ed column published in the Guyana Chronicle in August 2017, Dr. David Hinds discussed what he deemed the ‘crisis’ in the African-Guyanese community. He said then, “One of the devastating consequences [of the crisis] has been the loss of role models who live day to day in the communities.” No one took him to task or suggested that there was not a need for more role models.
So, why the brouhaha over the statement by Ramson which effectively says there is a need for lots of role models? There are many possible explanations. But the most plausible relate to the forthcoming Congress of the PNC/R and the need to boost the fortunes of candidates and to restore the political credibility of a party which had attempted to benefit from rigged elections.
Guyanese can look forward to a great deal of grandstanding as the candidates for leadership seek to maximise political capital in order to appeal to the delegates. But it will take much more than mischaracterising Ramson’s statement to do this.
The PNC/R will have to give account for the suffering it placed all Guyanese through during those five months when there was a raging pandemic and many persons could not work and the government could offer precious little to do so.
The PNC/R is facing its sternest credibility crisis. It knows what it did between March 2 and August 2, 2020 and it knows that it has lots of work to do in order to regain political credibility. And what better way to regain political credibility than at the expense of the PPP/C… and through political spin.
(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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The PNC/R is seeking political credibility at the expense of the PPP/C

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