Why the PPP/C is so afraid of Glenn Lall

Apr 25, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – The PPP/C also has its own playbook. When it cannot deal with the criticisms and exposure of its misrule and misdeeds, it resorts to labeling its critics.

Just recently, it labeled Glenn Lall as a politician rather than a publisher. In this way, the PPP/C is attempting to implant in the minds of its supporters that Glenn Lall is competing for political office and as such has now joined the political fray.  The only race that Glenn Lall is in is the human race. Glenn Lall is not running for anything. Those who know him well also know he is not the type of man who will run away from anything. He does not back down.  So why is the Vice President of Guyana being so vexatious towards Glenn Lall and the Kaieteur News? The reason is simple and two-fold. Glenn Lall is exposing the hypocrisy of those leaders of the PPP/C who when they were in Opposition lambasted the Coalition government for the terms of the oil contract. But now that they have assumed power are refusing to renegotiate the very terms which they found objectionable.

The more Glenn Lall, Kaieteur News and the Kaieteur Radio expose this hypocrisy, the greater the vexation of the country’s main political leaders. No one likes for their shortcomings to be exposed and this is the source of the PPP/C’s viciousness to the publisher of this newspaper. Secondly, Glenn Lall has been demanding a better deal for Guyana. He has made out a strong case as to how the country’s patrimony is being stolen from them, just like it was in colonial times. And this message is reaching the ordinary citizen and people’s eyes are beginning to open to what is taking place in the country. And the one thing that every government fears is when the people’s eyes are opened to their misdeeds.

Glenn Lall is so passionate about ensuring that the country’s wealth is not stolen and ensuring that our people can enjoy a higher standard of living that he is using his newspaper and radio to bring awareness of the flawed oil deal and the need to renegotiate the Production Sharing Agreement.  There are some elements who feel that this should not be the function of a newspaper. But using the media to emphasize a particular issue be it human rights violations, the need for democracy or the need for a better oil agreement is a legitimate function of journalism. There is nothing wrong with a newspaper being used to advocate certain concerns that are of public interest. This is called advocacy journalism and there is nothing wrong in a newspaper taking a non-neutral position when it comes to the oil and gas sector.

But what is triggering the greatest fear in the PPP/C is that Glenn Lall is also taking his message to the people directly. Wherever he goes, he is being swarmed by people who have been listening to what he has been saying on the radio, in the newspaper and on Tik Tok. And they treat him like a hero and want to hear more. As such, he is being invited to speak to gatherings in various communities, including in the heartland of the PPP/C’s support base. This is driving fear into the heart of the PPP/C and this is why Bharrat Jagdeo wants to label him as a politician. Unable to counter the arguments being made by Glenn Lall, the PPP/C wants to make their supporters see Lall as a threat to the party’s support base. And so they have christened him as a politician.

In fact, many persons are so inspired by what Lall has been saying that they are asking him to run for political office. Some have called on him to run for President and to help straighten out the problems of the country.  But the PPP/C knows that Glenn Lall is not politicking. They did not have a problem when he and his newspaper took a principled stand against the attempt to rig the 2020 general and regional elections. They did not say he was being political then. But now that he is exposing their cowardice in not renegotiating the oil deal, he has suddenly become a politician.

But Lall is focused on one thing – getting a better deal for the people of this country and their children. He knows that if Guyana loses this opportunity, Guyanese will never be able to enjoy the quality of life to which they are entitled given the wealth that the country has. Unless this oil deal is put right, the oil companies will bleed this country dry while throwing crumbs at the people. This struggle to right the wrongs which are being done to the Guyanese people is what Glenn Lall is about. And that is what makes the PPP/C tremble in fear.

(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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• Bharrat Jagdeo, Glenn Lall, Guyana, Peeping Tom, Vice President

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