You’d think that, for a party with a 68-year history, the PNC would’ve worked out how to select their leader by now. Even if through “follow the leader”!! Some think their “Founder-Leader” Burnham was always unchallenged for the position, but even he had to manoeuvre and plot to ensure he remained at the top. Folks sometimes forget that the PNC – just like APNU – was a coalition of several parties and politicians whom Burnham brought together with the PPP faction which he’d splintered. Burnham always had to watch out for challenges from those quarters, since those leaders had their own ambitions.
Chief among them was John Carter, head of the League of Coloured People, which carried the political aspirations of the ‘coloured’ stratum, who assumed that it was their birthright – literally because of their ‘white’ blood! – to run Guyana when their forbears decamped.
Burnham, and later Desmond Hoyte, had joined Carter’s law firm on their return from England, and he was one of those who despaired of Burnham “supporting” the East Indian Jagan as leader. How déclassé!! He’d formed the United Democratic Party, which merged with PPP-B in 1958, and he became chairman of the new PNC. But Burnham knew that Carter never saw him as the real deal, since he didn’t have the requisite white blood to rule!!
So, after they got into power by supporting the CIA, Burnham effectively banished Carter in 1966 by making him Ambassador to the US, the UN, and High Commissioner to Canada. He was never to return to Guyana, since Burnham kept rotating him as ambassador!!
Now, Norton had been under fire from Carter’s present-day successor to the LCP mantle – David Granger – and his surrogates like Roysdale Forde. He shoulda learnt from Burnham that he had to defang Granger – and coulda done this by promising him the Ambassadorship to the Court of St James!! Hadn’t he seen Granger practically prostrating himself when he met Queen Elizabeth??
Then there’s the race question in the basically ‘black’ PNC. Now, some people think that means the Indian question, but they’re wrong!! The ‘coloured’ still see themselves as the anointed race to govern Guyana, and must be courted as advised above. On the Indian front, knowing they each wanted to be THE Indian Leader in the PNC, and become the PM, Burnham simply played the Indian leaders – first Latchmansingh and Jainarine Singh – against each other!! Norton should be doing the same with Mahipal and Narine!!
Finally, one of the ways ambitious ‘black’ men make themselves more acceptable to the ‘coloured’ elite – who still call the shots – is to “marry up”. Like Burnham jettisoning his first black wife and then marrying the coloured Viola!!
Norton’s still single, innit??
…Iran
Your Eyewitness has been scratching his head as to why the Iranians practically waved their hands in the air while screaming, “Look!! We’ll be bombing Israel” – even though everyone and their uncle knew they HAD to retaliate for the latter’s violation of international law and bombing their Syrian Embassy. Well, they knew the US had committed to defending Israel, so they were actually giving them a heads up to do so! Now, why would they want to do this?? Well, apart from not wanting the Yanks to retaliate, they also wanted to let them and Israel know that if they REALLY wanted to inflict massive damage to Israel – and even take it out!! – they could do so!!
They didn’t have to start with drones – which they knew would take forever to reach Israel, and therefore give Israel and her allies time to scramble and destroy them. Ditto with follow-up cruise missiles. But even with all the warnings, several ballistic missiles DID get through – but were aimed at harmless spots.
And that’s the message!!
…family rule
It’s more than passing strange that Arab nation Jordan defended Israel, innit?? But then the Hashemite King Abdullah II – like his father, who was installed in 1921 by the Brits – are beholden to them for allowing him to remain ruler!!
