In our tropical climes it doesn’t take long for “Dead Meat” to rot and stink to high heavens. Gone are the days when the rotting carcasses of donkeys and horses would lie upended on our country roads to assail our noses and sensibilities. But the AFC’s doing a pretty good job to keeping that tradition alive! And this didn’t happen by chance. It was the leader Khemraj Ramjattan, after all, who’d predicted that if the AFC were to coalesce with the PNC they’d become “Dead Meat”. And he’s old enough – especially coming from rural Berbice – to’ve been assailed by the stench of rotting carcasses, so he knew of what he spoke!!
But he DID go ahead on the coalition with the PNC and while it might’ve been sweet for a while – what with all those outriders and a 50% raise! – he and his sidekick Nagamootoo were Dead Meat long before that NCM of Dec 20 2018. Remember when a new Security Strategy was unfurled by Granger and as Public Security Minister he wasn’t even invited? The less we speak of Nagamootoo’s treatment the better. De mortuis nil, nisi bonnum, as Burnham would say!
Anyhow, while Nagamootoo has discreetly dropped out of sight, Ramjattan’s still desperately seeking to levitate the dead!! Hope beats eternal and all that but isn’t there a point where it becomes delusional? And with the AFC, that point of no return has loooong been passed!! But what brought up this meditation on “raising the dead” was Ramjattan and the AFC’s – aren’t they the same? – statement that they welcomed the selection of Vishnu Persaud as the new GECOM CEO!!
It wasn’t just the announcement but the background against which it was made that betrayed the Ramjattan’s desperation. Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and his opponent in the PNC leader sweepstakes Aubrey Norton had earlier issued stinging denunciations of the choice of Persaud – and of the GECOM Chair Claudette Singh – whose casting vote made the choice real!! In a word, Ramjattan was taking on the present and possible future leadership of his coalition partner!! He was trying to show that the AFC wasn’t the doormat for the PNC it had been for 5 years!!
And was “providing leadership” when he called on “leaders, politicians, GECOM, civil society and development partners to strengthen Guyana’s weakened democracy and unite the nation”!! Can you imagine the brass balls? “Strengthen Guyana’s weakened democracy”? From the man who toadied up to Granger and gratuitously insisted that he could violate the constitution and unilaterally appoint James Patterson as GECOM Chair??
It’ll be easier to bring back to life one of those Mastodons found in Siberia than raise the Dead Meat AFC!!
…in a COVID 19 world
We know to our cost that when it comes to this COVID 19 pandemic we just can’t say “we know”! Just like we can’t say we “know” people since they can always change – like viruses. It’s just that scientists use the fancy term “mutate” to describe their changeability. So we’ve seen – and experienced – the original virus dubbed “Alpha “ that came Straight out of Wuhan!! But then there came the Beta, Gamma and Delta versions – with the last still wreaking havoc, especially in T&T and Europe. But we came up with vaccines that neutralized these killers so now they’re not “of high consequence”.
But just when we thought we were out of the woods – and some countries like India thought they’d reached the declining “endemic” phase – up comes this new Omicron variant out of South Africa. The jury’s still out on its overall impact but what’s known for sure is it spreads exponentially faster than Delta but evidently not as deadly.
It might even work like an “attenuated” vaccine against its siblings!!
…in PNC’s leader race
Basil Williams displayed discretion to quit the race. Maybe it’s now time for Van West Charles to follow suit and create a straight fight between Harmon, the outsider, and Norton the consummate insider!
