Making his pilgrimage to Guyana’s Reg 11 in North America, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton reiterated his opposition to street protests against the PPP government. He was speaking to Guyanese at a Townhall meeting in Toronto. Since he was elected as the leader of the PNC, in 2022, there’s been tremendous pressure on him to take his supporters into the streets to oust what these extremist elements called the “illegally installed racist cabal”.
In fact, it’s widely believed this was the reason he was chosen as PNC leader by the power brokers of the party. Over the years he’d earned a reputation as a street brawler after his participation in the street protests following the Dec 1997 elections. But in refusing to repeat that path, he referred to his role in those same street protests as the reason for abjuring it now as a political tactic.
He told his Toronto audience: “Street protest is not the best option. Let us be sensible. We want all Guyanese to benefit. We, at this stage, should not do anything that will result in conflict between the two major ethnic groups.” He was conceding that because our politics reflect our ethnic divisions, PNC protestors are inevitably African Guyanese and since they are protesting against the PPP – whose supporters are Indian Guyanese – the atmosphere becomes quite combustible. This is what had happened after 1997 and unfortunately, being launched in GT, it careened into the beating of perceived PPP supporters – read Indian Guyanese – and then mass arson against Indian Guyanese businesses. This set the pattern for the two decades since – most recently exemplified by an East Coast Demerara protest march that ended in violence against Indian Guyanese vendors at Mon Repos Market.
Mr Norton repeated the old PNC claim that the PPP infiltrates their street protests with African Guyanese elements to inflict ethnic violence and stain the PNC’s reputation. Whether this is so or not, street protests have become an “opposition thing” that’s associated with violence. But keeping his eyes on his supporter’s need for him to “put pressure” on the PNC, Norton clarified that he wasn’t abandoning protests in toto. As he cautioned his audience in Toronto: “That must not be interpreted to mean that there will be no protest. There will be protests but they will be done in a way that allows us to achieve our objective without allowing the PPP to achieve their objective of creating division within the society.”
Now this is a very mature and astute observation and commitment by Mr Norton and he’s to be commended. As he also pointed out, there are negative developments since 2020 he can highlight – and show the PNC can do better than the PPP in governance!
…on Haiti
The US had hoped the Multinational Security Support (MSS) – which they’d cobbled together with Kenya in the lead – would’ve been transformed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) into an official UN Peacekeeping Mission. However, in addition to criticisms of the LAST UN Peacekeeping Mission spreading cholera and engaging in sexual exploitation in the poverty-and violence riddled country, threats of a veto by Russia and China in the UNSC have now made them back off.
Those countries and several Haitian groups oppose US involvement in any move to return stability to Haiti and they want the MSS to continue. But the fly in the ointment is that none of them are coming up with funding for the initiative and at this point the 400+ police mainly from Kenya has proven ineffective in making a dent in the depredations by the gang against the citizenry.
So as the new Cold War plays out in the UNSC, Haiti continues in its downward spiral with 900,000 persons displaced – and counting!! Sad.
…Mad Maduro
As Mad Maduro consolidates his rule over Venezuela after rigging the July 28 elections, the Biden administration has been vacillating on their policy towards democracy. Mad Maduro’s now encouraged to “dialogue” with the Opposition!! Ha!!
