Dear Editor,
As Marcus Aurelius noted: “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact, everything we see is a perspective, not the truth”.
Time will certainly tell us more, as it always does, in relation to my expectation that Minister Joseph Harmon is the heir apparent to become President of Guyana before the next General Elections, or to be the Presidential candidate for the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) in the 2020 General Elections.
It’s good to see a friend of mine being groomed to be at the helm of the next administration. The loud clamouring for the Harmon career’s demise from many of our esteemed columnists, such as Christopher Ram, Anand Goolsarran, GHK Lall (stripes now revealed), Rawle Lucas; or the foxlike pronouncements from the AFC, which were best represented by the ill-thought-out utterances from Minister David Patterson, or some might say Alliance for Ministerial Power, have ended in naught, nix and zero, or nugatory, as former AG Anil Nandlall is apt to add.
At a press conference in October 2016, our witty and well read “Eyewitness” summarized the following in a Guyana Times column dated October 9, 2016: “When Patterson was questioned as to what was the conclusion of “the pitched rear-guard action they’d fought after claiming that too much power was accreted into the person of Minister of State Joe Harmon, Patterson claimed they’d cut him down to size. Pressed further if he’d care to elaborate on exactly what “powers” had been “cut”, Patterson coyly allowed he wasn’t one to boast!! And that the evidence was there to see!”
Eyewitness, seemingly in defence of Harmon, declared: “Eyewitness never really felt Harmon was encroaching on anyone’s turf – least of all the PM. Like all good aide de camps, all he was doing was ensuring that his principal’s instructions were carried out. When slackers – like so many from the AFC camp congenitally are – fell down on the job, Harmon was forced to step in. But because they were shown up for the slackers they were, it bred resentment in the AFC executive… But Patterson thinks he’s being clever to ask reporters to show where Harmon’s now overstepping his remit.”
Minister Harmon is surely the best option for the PNCR. The only other PNCR Minister with the gravitas needed for being the President of Guyana is Minister Winston Jordan. However, Winston is not a politician in the rough meaning and grasp of the word “Politician”; nor is he an integral part of the body politic of the PNCR. One would have to go deep down the rabbit hole to find a successor within the ranks of the PNCR for a serious competitor to Mr Harmon.
A quick segway into the managing of State owned corporations in Guyana: I believe we should follow the policy of the Americans and have the CEO and Chairman structure, where the CEO and Chairman are the same person, as used at corporate giants such as Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs, James Dimon, JP Morgan Chase, Darren Woods, and ExxonMobil, among other global corporate business entities. Instead of having the chairmanship separate from the CEO position, as is done in Guyana for our large state-owned corporations. History in Guyana has shown the latter structure generally results in a sitting “party” board (no pun intended), which invariably is a Board of yes men and/or women.
At least when there is corporate failure, you can fire the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (one person), and allow for the appointment of someone who does not have either a pre-existing CEO or pre-existing Chairman within the ranks to challenge the decisions made by the new CEO and Chairman.
Sincerely,
Nigel Hinds
