David Hinds, Odessa Primus – give ‘em hell

Sep 20, 2025 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – Since I have taken the liberty of giving President Ali free advice, it is only fair that I extend the courtesy to the political opposition.  The WPA’s Dr. David Hinds is heading to parliament.  Go for it, sir.  I elaborate on both very active political participants from the 2025 elections.

Having been in the political trenches for most of his life, Dr. Hinds is well-equipped to function in the aisles and dark alleyways of Guyana’s parliament.  He has to make every minute count, for there are those voiceless and powerless Guyanese who see a champion in him.  It seems that he is ready, as his own words testify.  “So, we are walking on two feet, and that’s what you do when you are in a coalition, you carry out the coalition’s agenda, and you carry out your party’s agenda.”

 It’s the first time I am hearing that one about “walking on two feet” in any context, certainly not that of politics.  It fits the APNU-WPA circumstances.  I can hear him lashing the masts in parliament and taking matters to the limit with fire in his eye and, well, vim in his feet.  My advice to Dr. Hinds is that he be conscious of the setting, where the ruling party has a comfortable majority.  He will have to be measured and clinical, as there will be those who will bait him, and try to get a rise out of him.  It is going to have to be a balance of passion with circumspection; a blend of political vitality not seen recently from opposition benches with maintenance of personal equanimity.  If the shortcomings and injustices of the past-raw, rank, and roiling-were to be extended with new frills, then the local parliamentary ground is going to be one hell of a stormy battlefield.  Easy does it, is my counsel.  There will be time and place for an angry face, a disgusted posture, and a piercing riposte.

Dr. Hinds should take comfort in the likelihood that quite a few faces on the governing PPP side of the ring would be green.  Probably greener than PNC green, and with some of those same ole heads that are familiar to Hinds in the political dance that is Guyana’s parliament.  Sorry folks, but I couldn’t resist that last item.  In sum, I think that Dr. Hinds is more in tune than his opposition colleagues about how anxiety-ridden and disillusioned the Guyanese who support the opposition parties are.  All this oil wealth that is part of their inheritance an all this ‘eye-pass’ on how it is shared.  There is no better person, I think, than David Hinds to capture those raw emotions and convey them in the chambers of parliament.  Last, there is that challenge-a conundrum, really-the PNC-WPA opposition in parliament is going to have to learn to work with the WIN people, as well as balance their hands in working constructively and strategically (however that can be) with the PPP lions now with their post-elections tail up, and rearing to prove themselves.  If he could have dealt with Burnham, I don’t foresee too much difficulty in dealing with the likes of, ah, better left those good folks unidentified.

Seeing that I referred to WIN, there is Ms. Odessa Primus.    It is pleasing to hear her say that she entered the political realm with certain ideas in her head, and that a place in parliament was not quite uppermost in her thoughts.  I am usually inclined to emphasize the virtue and value of personal sacrifice, and clearly Ms. Primus has made her mark in that respect, in that she hasn’t jumped all over that opening from her WIN brain trust.  It bodes well for her political future, which I think begins in the parliamentary trenches.  She already wears some scars from Guyana’s commercial sector for her political preference, and that alone should serve as a motivation to be a presence for those who have none in Guyana, be they in this bustling town, or some rustic and distant hamlet that has been forgotten for too long.

Ms. Primus has passed her first test on the grueling political hustings.  Now there is more work, and it is all backbreaking, waiting for her in the 13^th parliament of Guyana set to get out of the blocks soon.  She belongs there.  She can represent a lot of citizens there.  She can contribute much there.  I say that she must mark her name and cast a long, strong shadow.  It is heartening that she has decided in the affirmative.

(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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• APNU, David Hinds, GHK Lall, Odessa Primus, WPA

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