Freddie and Karan Chand commended for interview

May 29, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

I commend Freddie Kissoon for his interview with Karan Chand (May 21) and I applaud Mr. Chand for his frankness in revealing his experience with the AFC party leadership and governance of the coalition. The public needs to know about how AFC members feel about the party. I penned opinion polls and commentaries on the AFC about its shrinking support. Freddie’s analyses and his interview with Karan Chand buttress the findings of the polls.
I visited Region 2 several times during the coalition’s tenure. The then coalition administration was blamed for being obstructionist in the delivery of services by the PPP controlled RDC in Region 2. It was seen as victimization of PPP supporters. This cost the coalition a lot of support in the 2020 elections even among those who voted coalition in 2015.
I met Karan Chand for the first time in 2016 and a few times after that in visits to Essequibo to conduct opinion polls. I also met him and some of his Essequibo friends at the party’s convention at West Bank Dem where I visited as a reporter; I was put out of the place. Karan Chand and his allies were very warm towards me and complimented my writings and polling work.
I conducted similar interviews as Freddie did with him though not for publication. I also interviewed other AFC figures as I did PPP and PNC officials for my research. Karan Chand and other AFC stalwarts expressed similar remarks about the AFC to me as he did to Freddie very early in the coalition administration. Karan Chand and other AFC stalwarts, who were formerly ROAR stalwarts, expressed their disappointment with the governance of the coalition and AFC’s silence at being belittled and marginalized by the PNC leadership. They stated that they communicated their frustration with the party leadership and about declining support on the coast as a result of neglect and marginalization of the region by the government. They told me they could not get regular interactions with their superiors. They did say that the only person interacting with them was the Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo but that Moses was not ‘delivering’. Their requests and complaints went unanswered. Those who supported (voted) for AFC complained about the arrogance of the leadership, telling me way back in 2016 that “dey done with the party”.
Supporters of the coalition were upset that the central government was undermining Region 2 RDC because it was under the control of the PPP. The AFC representatives in the region said they didn’t like it but were helpless to do anything about it. The AFC reps were blamed for stymieing the delivery of services by the PPP controlled RDC to the people of Region 2.
It cannot be explained or understood why the coalition governed so badly that even several of its own supporters shunned it and went back PPP; the trend was there since 2016 and supported by election results in 2016 and 2018. It cannot be understood PNC leadership ill-treated the AFC and why the AFC bigwigs accepted it. Worse, AFC loyalists could not understand why the party leadership snubbed loyal cadres. Was it a thing about power?
It is commendable that Karan Chand published his experience and analysis of coalition rule on March 1 and agreed to the interview with Freddie to let it all out. He cleared his conscience and has earned accolades for his courage to speak out against the snubbing, marginalization, and abuses that he and his comrades suffered during the coalition tenure in office. It is a learning experience.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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Freddie and Karan Chand commended for interview

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