Dear Editor,
The rapid pace of development taking place in Guyana has suddenly taken the PNC by storm, and it is left behind. The momentum is too great for the main Opposition, that somehow, it seems stuck in time. In this regard, its members are now nitpicking at any available matter that seems to give them some sense of relevance.
I am talking about development in the infrastructural realm, in healthcare, agriculture, and foreign investment; all of the foregoing has been progressing by leaps and bounds. These massive developmental strides have made giant inroads on our landscape, and it has left the poorly-equipped PNC grovelling in the dust to catch up with something of relevance.
But before that party could gather some degree of importance as a decent and viable Opposition, it has to first fix the glaring indifferences that presently exist within its ranks. For starters, it has to address the lack of support that a wide cross-section of the party has for its leadership.
From all indications, most of the members of the party are slowly and imperceptibly withdrawing their support (if ever they had) from him. This 30% leader has made so many enemies within his own party that even the minority who see him filling that position are uneasy with what he is doing. Poor soul!
He is blowing hot air on all major matters of state, from that call for the removal of the GECOM Chairman to the appointment of the acting Police Commissioner; in all these major landmark issues, his party lacks strong and effective leadership. Wherever it matters most for the effective strengthening of democracy, Mr Norton seeks to undermine it. Even the main issue, which at a surface value seems to be an oversight on the part of the PPP/C; that is: the confirmation of the Chief Justice and Chancellor, is not something of their making, but something that the PPP/C has instituted. Rather, it is the politicising of these appointments, which is something done by the PNC itself, that has made the confirmation of the justices a problem.
So, where does that leave us? I dare say we are burdened with a bedraggled bunch who do not know whether they are coming or going. It is certainly not looking good for them, because, as the momentum of development grows and the rift within that party widens, the support that party might have had would dwindle to nothingness.
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
