David Granger emerged from his cocoon to add more shame to himself. As President between 2015 and 2020, he was mostly missing in action (MIA). In the Caribbean’s political history, there was never – and I doubt there ever will be – a President more distant from his responsibilities and duty than Granger when he served as President.
But this week, with 68 days remaining for Elections 2025, Granger emerged telling young people to vote for the PNC and APNU because they must vote for people they trust, for those who keep promises, for those with ideas and policies to develop young people and Guyana. This is why the young people in Guyana have no alternative but to vote for President Irfaan Ali and the PPP for another term in Government. When it comes to trust, the people of Guyana, young and old, have every reason in the world not to trust the PNC-led APNU.
Consider this, the PNC-led APNU promised that “sugar was too big” to close, that they would never close any estate; they ended up closing four sugar estates and put more than 7,000 persons out of jobs. They promised to double the old-age pension, give sugar workers and public servants a 20% salary and wage increase, double the income tax threshold and eliminate university fees in their first 100 days. Not only did none of this happen in their first 100 days, these things did not happen in their five years in Government. Indeed, university fees increased and they gave themselves 100% pay increases, while telling the public servants to wait their turn – which did not happen in the entire five years. They promised to increase the price of paddy to $9,000 per bag, then turned around and told rice farmers that they were private investors.
They promised to reduce taxes, but either introduced or increased taxes in more than 300 categories. They placed VAT on water, electricity, education, medicines and health products, data, etc. They promised not to take away the children’s “Because We Care” grants, but ended up taking it away; more than $11B from the children in those five years. They promised employment for every youth, and then told the young people that it is not the Government’s role to create employment; that they must help themselves, advising them to cook dog food, plantain chips, cook-up, and sell by the roadside.
They broke every single promise they made. This is not hyperbole. It is the absolute truth. Not a single promise they made was kept. How do you trust people like these? When Granger advises young people and people in general to vote for Aubrey Norton and the PNC because they must vote for a candidate and a party that they can trust to keep their promises, how can anyone take him seriously?
The truth is that people must vote for the candidate and the party they trust. Only one party in Elections 2025 has earned the trust of the people. President Irfaan Ali and the PPP have kept every single promise they made. They promised to bring back Because We Care and increase it from $10,000 per child to $50,000, to make university free, to create more than 50,000 jobs, to bring world-class healthcare, to distribute 50,000 house lots, to double old-age pension, etc. Every single promise they made has been kept. They have truly earned respect and trust.
This is the reason why, 68 days from Elections 2025, in the heat of the campaign, more people have exited the PNC and publicly endorsed President Irfaan Ali and the PPP, shouting out loud that one good and great term deserves another.
Embarrassed by the daily endorsements by former and present senior members of the PNC, they have resorted to having those remaining to make public self-endorsements. There ought to have been no doubt where Granger stood for Elections 2025. Where he stood politically ought to have been self-evident and taken for granted. But exactly where he stood became a matter of anxious speculation among PNC members. This is sheer shamelessness.
Granger is the immediate past leader of the PNC and the immediate past President of Guyana. Only now, 68 days to Elections 2025, Granger emerged to endorse the PNC. As PNC supporters wondered whether the man they supported to become the leader and then to become President would stand by them. He traumatized them as they waited to see if he would endorse Aubrey Norton and the PNC for Elections 2025.
There should never be a question whether the immediate past leader of the PNC would endorse the PNC’s Presidential candidate or the PNC in Elections 2025. It is shameful that supporters had to wonder whether he would give his endorsement. It is shameful there was speculation, even if wild speculation, that he might even endorse the incumbent or someone else. It is utterly shameful and disgraceful.
At a time when the PNC is desperate for help, the man who became President on the wings of the PNC abandoned them when they needed him the most. This speaks volumes about David Granger and his principles and values. If shamelessness had a face, Granger’s face is truly the face of shamelessness.
There is lots of shamelessness going on now as Elections 2025 nears. But as of this moment, if shame had a face, the most eligible faces for the title must be former President, David Granger and former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
Nagamootoo became Prime Minister with the AFC, but while in Government, he was more aligned with the PNC. Since 2020, he abandoned the AFC. He has not endorsed his former colleagues, either from the PNC or the AFC. Ungrateful? Shameless? The face of shamelessness is excruciating to watch. But these two men ought to slink back into their cocoon and stay there. The Guyanese people lost all respect for them a long time ago.
