Dear Editor,
I have noted the People’s National Congress (PNC) press release of Jan 11, 2020, about an informational flyer I shared via my personal Facebook account. I have shared many things on my Facebook page, including Joseph Harmon’s vile and racist attack on the PPP/C’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, Brigadier Mark Phillips. Sharing of interesting, thought-provoking and those that broach taboo subjects are the bread and butter of social media platforms.
I wish to state categorically that I have not produced the flyer in question. Further, I have clarified that having seen the contents of the flyer, it may have been crudely worded but it has achieved the effect of bringing the issue of a presidential candidate’s health as a campaign issue to the fore. A norm in democracies; some countries even mandate medical examination and public scrutiny of health records.
I understand that the PNC is alien to the concepts of parliamentary democracy but it is out of sheer desperation and in an attempt to divert attention from their abysmal performance in office; the poor turnout at its rallies and the rejection it is facing from Guyanese ahead of the March 2, 2020 elections, that the senior partner of the APNU/AFC coalition has resorted to milking this non-issue with the hope of attracting sympathy votes.
I welcome the introduction of important issues such as candidates’ physical and mental health into our fledgeling democracy. Mr Granger could not lead the APNU/AFC in a short one-kilometre walk to present their electoral lists on Friday; he (Granger) is asking to be re-elected after five disastrous years where our economy suffered from his poor leadership and massive squandermania of his geriatric cabal.
I look forward to seeing the health record of Mr Granger released for public scrutiny in the near future.
Sincerely,
Edward Layne
