H@rd Truths By GHK Lall – A poisoned, hobbled Opposition

Apr 14, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – In this time of the greatest national need, the leading PNC Opposition is at its weakest.  A political group that should be treated with some respect is subject to all manner of ridicule.  Many of those are deserving because they are self-inflicted, and the sources of which would jar those Guyanese who do not know what is really going on behind the scenes.

One of the planks within the PNC is determined to undermine the work of present Leader of the Opposition.  The leadership of that plank would surprise many, even in the PNC.  Instead of a uniting of competing and ambitious forces within the main PNC, what is at work is what sabotages the interests of their constituency first, and the nation next.  It takes a considerable amount of chaser (or castor oil) to digest that there are powerful elements in the PNC that could be so self-centered, so lustful for power, so narrowly unthinking, that they would do what is harmful to African Guyanese.  If this is what is being done to their own bread and butter people, then what could be expected for the rest of the nation.

If anyone concludes that this is an endorsement of Mr. Aubrey Norton, I have a message for them: perish the thought.  My vision is of what is uplifting for all Guyanese, none excluded.  When Opposition Leader Norton can deliver on that, then he has my qualified subscription.  Meanwhile, I look on at the men and women running about like mavericks in the Opposition PNC, and the word comes that they are servants of not what is good for Guyanese, not even of PNC supporters.  Instead, their first loyalties are to those in the PNC hierarchy who are responsible for their ongoing presence, and who quietly and cleverly orchestrate their maneuvers and public outpourings, as well as their internal party machinations.

No group, no leader, operating with such an overhang is likely to be as effective, or as successful, in combating the challenges faced. Certainly, no Opposition has a chance of coming into its own with vigor and focus.  A luckless cat caught in a well-populated doghouse is in a better place.  What is embarrassing to me is that I had lent public support, for whatever it was worth, only for subsequent developments to emphasize that I had misjudged what I thought was of a low level at first, only for the terrible to evolve as matters have been coming to light today.  Normally, I could care less about goes on inside the PPP and PNC, but when the welfare of struggling and hopeful Guyanese is involved, then there is an obligation to speak frankly and take public stands.

To repeat an oft-stated mantra of mine, Guyana needs a vibrant and credible Opposition at all times.  In the worst of times, the PPP of Cheddi Jagan stands unsurpassed in this respect.  In this the so-called best of times, it is even imperative that this country and its citizens, all of them without concern for their persuasions, have an even more viable political Opposition at work, on the move, and in the face of the government of the day.  This happens to be the PPP, and most perilously, it is closer to a ghetto of gangsters than any government that Guyanese have ever had. When the political, social, and economic environments run rampant with PPP Government rackets, then it goes without saying that the demand for the most potent Opposition is at its highest.  This is whether this country has oil or not.

The ugly, sickly, reality is that we now have what degrades Guyana to its absolute worst (PPP with its jaws on oil) and we lack what Guyanese need the most (an Opposition at its best).  Though of a different kind, this is a curse and a disease all by themselves, and both at the same time.  Brother Norton has been tentative, but must find stratagems to overcome his internal foes, and quickly find his feet.  Time is not on his side, with local and foreign circumstances boxing him in a tight corner, with little room for missteps. Still, the onus is on him to make some bold moves, and compel a different, more wholesome, recognition of his presence, the potency of his group.  Guyana cannot afford, is not equipped, to lurch along with a weakened and hobbled Opposition, and its leader seemingly groping for a way out of the molasses that holds him down.

A crippled Opposition is worse than no Opposition. Reference the latter, there is no expectation, no option, no conviction, and no connection.  What Guyanese-Indians, Africans, Amerindians, and their various fusions-then have is a PPP juggernaut that jugs Guyanese with one governmental revulsion and financial obscenity following the other.  The only beneficiaries are Americans, Europeans, Red Chinese, subcontinent Indians, and their Guyanese cabal in the PPP.  In such circumstances, it is better if there is no oil.  And should we persist with what is the equivalent to no Opposition, then disband GECOM, say goodbye to democracy, then reach with a hello to the new tyranny.

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

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• GKH Lall, Guyanese, Leader, opposition, PNC

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