…to the elections Well, this might be the first Christmas Eve in the history of Guyana wherein the “jump up” may take second place to the political gyaaf!! And for the politicians, we can do away with the “may”!! Imagine: they’ll have to prepare for elections within three months! Back in the days of his callow youth, your Eyewitness learnt that “catalysts” speed up reactions but remain unchanged at the end. This Charrandas fella has certainly speeded up the political reaction in Guyana, but we wonder how “unchanged” he’ll be after his elevation to “hero” status. Or “zero” by the PNC – including Nagamootoo!! So, let’s unpack some of what has to get done within three months. First, there’s the literal conducting of the elections by GECOM. Do we have new indelible ink now that we used all the old ink to stain fingers after voting? How about the printing of ballots?? What’s the lead time there? How about the communication logistics? Well, things ran pretty smoothly for the LGE a month ago, so that shouldn’t be a problem. The joker in the pack is the health of the GECOM Chair; but when you come down to it, he just has to stamp a piece of paper attesting that the election was kosher. More urgently is the selection of Presidential and Prime Ministerial candidates. Everyone was fixated on the PPP, which has promised to get their presidential choice out of the way by early January. This has given them a head start in this department, since the process of selection has been explained ad nauseam and the front runners have been on display as recently as during the no-confidence debate. While young, these individuals are known to the people, and they can hit the ground running. Unfortunately, the PNC – which is what the APNU/AFC has boiled down to – is in a fix in their presidential sweepstakes. The unfortunate illness of PNC leader President Granger and treatment of that illness (which can be worse than the illness) puts them in a bind, since he will not be in a position to go into the hustings. With their need to have a Congress vote on any new candidate, this will take some organizing – especially with the jockeying of the presidential aspirants for the pole position. Then, of course, comes the messaging and the manifesto. Guyana is on the cusp of seismic changes, not only in the economy, but also in the nature of the society. How do you segment the voters, now that we are a nation of minorities, to deliver a majority? Ah…the work of the politician is never done!! But with the stakes so high, you’ll be surprised what’s possible!! …From the useless budget debate Your Eyewitness hates saying, “I told you so”, but he did gripe about the Government wasting over $100 million on a Budget Debate that would prove useless, since the new Government after the no-confidence vote would immediately throw it out of the window! Or, more appropriately, into the dustbin, so as not to pollute the environment under their Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) that will be reinstated!! So here we are, with a $300 BILLION budget and no one to direct its spending. You may retort that the present Government will remain in place until the new elections boot them out. But seriously folks, do you see these Ministers spending any time to make sure – say – the bypass road is initiated? Or GHPC gets a new CT machine? Pleeease!! For them, it’s survival time, and they’ll be spending every second – including this Christmas Eve — whipping up votes to ensure the said survival that’ll allow them to keep all those black SUVs, mega salaries, and first-class tickets to the great yonder!! Incentives! Incentives! Incentives!! …To confront the venezuelan threat The Venezuelans will be looking to exploit our distractions during the next three months, since our case on their border controversy is passing through the World Court like a dose of salts!! Janet was a Cassandra to bring Exxon to our side!!
