Floor crossers

Jun 24, 2025 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths column…

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – Opposition Leader, Mr. Aubrey Norton is reported to have said that there will be better decision-making to stem the recent spurt of crossovers from the PNC to the PPP. My best to Mr. Norton on that eel he has in mind to tame, to contain.

But how to keep mercury (quicksilver) steady in one’s hands when there is so much movement underfoot? Mischief, too. Call them whatever pleases, and I think that whether labeled crossovers, or floor-crossers, or political crossdressers, or group betrayers, or just plain regular hustlers, there are a handful of tricky obstacle courses for the Opposition Leader to contemplate, as he attempts to navigate around a dilemma.

There is the practical and the human. The first concerns what is self-enriching, as in who has the marbles (or dolls) currently. It is not the PNC or AFC. The human involves that big Pandora’s box of ambition, invitation, seduction, and being in position. It helps if there are also huge doses of the opportunistic in motion, as fueled by greed, a thick skin (to absorb insults), and an insatiable appetite for doing donkey work. Any dirty work that would be part of a crossover expectation. How does any leader guard against those, succeed when such are present, is beyond my training?

There was the old PPP, the one that represented local political glory. Forbes Burnham had the goods, which made dealing with Cheddi Jagan bad for personal business. The line was long: the ill-fated Vincent Teekah, the beautifully named Lalbahadur Lalbachan, and even the once illustrious Ranji Chandisingh, among others of that pantheon. None of them said then, nor any from today, when taking a walk from the twilight zone to the wild side, would be caught dead saying that it was for the money. Or the lure of counting among the prestige people.

Or of jumping ship and abandoning comrades when the times are ‘guava season’ hard. It must always be recalled that politicians usually have a spin that puts a skid on matters when they are pulling a fast one. Instead of the guile of flight and turn, it is better called swing. Political swingers are what I call crossovers and floor crossers. Let’s face the facts: the PPP is where the gravy is. If the money was with the PNC, the crossovers would have been flowing in from Robb Street. Stabroek News would still be its stubborn self. So, I urge dismissing all that empty chatter about what is good for the country, and who is an inspiring leader, and what is better for the poor, hungry, suffering, people of Guyana. It is all bull. Guyanese have to be duller than duck soup to believe that a crossover pol, would be so self-disgracing that he or she would admit that the moolah was the main attraction.

Frankly, it is not even the aphrodisiac of power, because the newly crossovers will only be trusted to do spadework, latrine duty, and patrolling the perimeter. A seat on a board, a procurement award to rope into the delicious action, and a heavier pay packet, when it is that day in the month. With all the corruption going on in the PPP Government, there may not be time nor interest to collect the ‘fine change’ that monthly salary represents. Remember always that many in the local politician breed are, first of all, salespeople. They bottle national treachery and sell it as leadership and party integrity. Those who wish to drink do so at their own risk. Just check with the leader of the pack, the PPP.

As for the PNC leader, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. I believe that he knew who were the objects of PPP overtures, who were the ones nibbling at the baits offered, and who were while readying to abandon the team. He found himself in that old bind: fire on his head if he made a move to oust those comrades who are open to cajoleries and enticements; and mud on his face, if he didn’t. In terms of Guyana’s supersensitive political realities, to make a preemptive move against some would have opened him to charges of racial bias. Further, the slurs would have come fast and furious about how the PNC is a racist party, and is not a place for one segment of the demographic. Like I said, better he than me to deal with that minefield. Right or wrong, those with everything going for them usually gets the calls going in their favor, with the PPP claiming the honours. Hence, I have some difficulty determining how the PNC leader is going to end ‘bad decision-making’ as he calls it. He should know better. Because the best operators are stealth operators. Those who knock glasses, then knock below.

(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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• Aubrey Norton, GHK Lall, jumping ship, PNC, PPP

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