Another one crosses the floor…and another one gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust!! Read – and sing if you can, along with the PPP! – to the tune of Queens’ 1980 super mega hit “Another one bites the dust” – yeah!! That, of course, was the same year Burnham had Rodney assassinated and PNC-ites made that number THEIR anthem!!
The above stream of consciousness was precipitated by the news that former PNC Executive – and former Magistrate Geeta Chandan-Edmond, made a dramatic announcement in the National Assembly – from the Opposition Benches – that she was supporting President Ali’s bid for a second term!! “Let the record reflect tonight that I stand proudly with President Irfaan Ali, I stand with his leadership, I stand with his vision and I stand with his steadfast commitment to this country -Because when the choices between progress and happiness, between development and dysfunction, between loudness and leadership, I will always choose Guyana.”
Your Eyewitness fully expected plaintive wails of “No, Geeta…no!!” from her fellow PNC MP’s – but this time PNC Chief Whip Christopher Jones futilely tried to stop her from speaking!! This must’ve riled her up even further since a big part of her reason for crossing over was because she’d complained she was being “silenced”!! She noted: “Not one voice, not a single voice rose in condemnation when I was attacked with vile, racist and derogatory words, simply because I stood for what I believe in.”
She was clearly referring to the response of the WPA’s spokesman to her rejection of being dubbed a “slave catcher” when she confronted a WPA supporter over her derogatory description of Indian Guyanese. It seems with Norton deciding to coalesce with the WPA’s three members, he’s endorsing the latter’s position that non-Africans in the PNC should not criticize African members since that would be tantamount to selling them out to the PPP. Making them equivalent to the African “slave catchers” who’d sold their brothers and sisters to the White Man!!
But another reason Chandan-Edmond gave for her decision really resonated with your Eyewitness: her disagreement with Norton for walking out on the resolution supporting the Government’s declaration that the 1899 Arbitral Award on the Essequibo Border was valid. “That was a moment of national reckoning. A moment when every one of the 65 elected members of this House should have stood together. And what did the opposition do? I was part of it. We chose silence, we walked out, we chose politics over patriotism. It was not only disappointing, it was also disgraceful. It was, in every sense, a betrayal of our sacred duty.”
While your Eyewitness ain’t no fan of Chandan-Edmond, he must say, this was her finest hour!!
…and nationalism
With Mad Maduro inexorably pursuing the takeover of Essequibo, we gotta look at the variables on the Border Controversy from every angle. The news that an indeterminate number of Warraus from Venezuela are occupying the entire Kumaka Amerindian Hostel made him stand up straight!! Are these folks part of the 100,000 refugees who’ve poured in across the very porous border?? Have they been processed and debriefed and vetted to discover whether they’re part of Mad Maduro’s plan to take over Essequibo through “occupation” by Venezuelans to actualize his paper annexation?
In this matter, while we must have compassion and all that for refugees, we gotta err on the side of caution – if no borderline paranoia – because of the chess game Mad Maduro’s playing with us using Essequibo as the Queen. Who woulda though that Tren de Argua gang members would blow up a Police Outpost and a GPL substation in our capital??
With Trump deporting more gang members, we gotta expect Mad Maduro to deploy them here,
…and borders
Caribbean Beat – a magazine promoting itself as representing “The Caribbean” to Caribbean Airlines passengers – claims not to realize our map includes the New River Triangle, and Suriname’s doesn’t! We must publicize both our border issues more effectively!!
