Perspective…

…on Desmond Hoyte
Over the weekend, the PNC commemorated the 17th death anniversary of Desmond Hoyte, who’d succeeded Burnham as President back in 1985 – when the former suddenly expired. As PNC leader, Granger has to observe the formalities established before Corbin rigged the 2011 internal PNC elections to make him such. But one wonders what goes through his mind at how the Burnhamites, in general, and he in particular, were treated by Hoyte after he was thrust into the presidency.
Hoyte didn’t really have a mass base in the PNC, like say Hamilton Green. The latter was kept out of the Prime Ministership for that very reason – since he could’ve mounted a challenge to Burnham from there. Hoyte was the loyal apparatchik who’d worked in Burnham’s law offices and “taken care of business” in the Elections Commission as the PNC rep in 1967, in preparation for the first rigging of 1968. Hoyte also represented in court most of the bigger thugs who did the PNC’s dirty work in the 1960s.
But cognisant of his mass support deficit, Hoyte moved quickly and determinedly to ease out the Burnhamites from positions of power through “deployments”, demotions and dismissals. He moved out Burnham’s two ideologues – first Elvin Mc David to Russia as ambassador, then bypassed David Granger as head of the army by bringing in Joe Singh immediately from the Guyana National Service. He didn’t want any coup from that quarter: he knew Burnham had appointed Granger to the position by pipping several senior officers to head off infiltration by Walter Rodney in 1979. Singh, unlike Granger, couldn’t foment a coup!!
The ultimate insult and humiliation was to make Joe Singh as Chief of Staff of the entire Disciplined Forces and appointing Granger as “security advisor” – who was never called upon to give advice!! This was when Granger boned up on history and – even though long in the tooth – was given a US Humphry Fellow to study journalism. Hamilton Green was peripheralised and eventually kicked out after 1992 – only to be rescued in 2015 by – guess who? – Granger!! Viola and Chandisingh were kept in the beginning as symbolic sops to the Burnhamite faithful as Hoyte brought in a slew of “moderates” – who were notable for their lack of a political base – to “democratise” the PNC.
On Sunday, Granger bigged up Hoyte for “crafting” the ERP – never mind the IMF imposed its one-size-fits-all neo-liberal, Washington Consensus prescription of stabilisation, privatisation and liberalisation!! The resultant high “growth rates” were because Hoyte removed the Government’s hands from the throat of the economy after controlling “the commanding heights of the economy”.
Granger agreed with Green that Hoyte should’ve never accepted the 1992 elections’ results!!

…on H2H registrants
Today, we’re supposed to be getting the final numbers of those actually found in their homes – from the 16,339 names whittled out of the 370,000 from the aborted H2H exercise and deemed “new”. From the trends it’s possible that 11,000 might be found – and this raises several interesting questions.
First, how many are over 23 – who could’ve voted in 2015 (being at least 18+5) but didn’t – since their names aren’t on the NRR, created in 2001 and updated in the H2H of 2008? Are these phantoms?? Then what happens with those 5000 or so who weren’t “found”?? If we accept the addition of the “found” 11,000 to the RLE, do we then “drop” the 5000 names – which we’re told, we can’t do?? As PNC’s Vincent Alexander insists, in for a penny, in for a pound?? Are these 5000 the PNC’s extra seat?
Should we extend the “search parties” exercise for another few days, since it’s more likely everybody will be home for Christmas?

…on first oil
A friend insists your Eyewitness shouldn’t be using inductive logic on the PNC’s horrible track record on economic development to be so “pessimistic” on oil.
So, if the sun’s been rising in the east for eternity, we shouldn’t predict it’ll rise there tomorrow?