The PNC/APNU combine was first off the blocks with their campaign launch last Sunday night – as your Eyewitness mentioned – at their traditional spot, the Square of the Revolution. The incumbent PPP announced they’ll launch theirs at the Kitty Market Square which has now become their spot for their opening salvos. Interestingly, Kitty’s the birthplace and early home of PNC’s founder leader, Forbes Burnham!! Has the PPP been making an in-your-face move to the PNC?? And making it once again??
Your Eyewitness believes that in the psychological chess game our political campaigns become in Guyana, the PPP already has seized the advantage from the PNC. They’ve dubbed their opening moves “fundraising” events – where attendees had to cough up $5000 each – yet attracted crowds that dwarfed the PNC’s gathering of the faithful at the Square, who merely had to show up!! Now if that ain’t sending an intimidating message, what will?? So the race is really and truly off!!
Now your Eyewitness has already mentioned the overall thrust of the PNC campaign speakers – to simply promise more of whatever the PPP’s been doing!! Nothing new – just MORE!! $100,000 cash transfers to every Guyanese?? $1 MILLION if PNC gets elected!! House lots and cheap mortgages?? Houses built and rented – then sold for a pittance to the renters after a while by the PNC!! Free tertiary education?? Hey… a monthly salary while you’re getting that degree!! And so on and so forth!! Anything the PPP can do, they’ll do it bigger and better!!
But it was their stance on Guyana’s ethnic politics where clear differences were evident – and which is gonna make a difference come September. Not only was the audience mono-ethnic – Afro-Guyanese – but so were the speakers. Ganesh Mahipal – the PNC’s most visible Indian Guyanese in the leadership core – had been informed where he stood in the grand scheme of PNC politics when Leader Norton passed him over for the symbolic PM second spot. Norton went OUTSIDE the PNC and plucked the AFC’s Amerindian Juretha Rodrigues of Bartica!! This indicated that the choice wasn’t necessarily about Mahipal personally – even though there was that recording of Mahipal badmouthing Norton! – but that unlike Granger, who courted Indo-Guyanese Nagamootoo for the spot, Norton’s given up on votes from that demographic in favour of Amerindians!!
In this, of course, he’d been advised by the WPAs rabid racists with whom he’d coalesced. The geriatric from that party screamed out in the Square the old divisive rhetoric of “who plant the corn must get the corn”, “don’t split the vote”, and “no extrajudicial killings!”
The last exhortation was rather ironic seeing that the most famous “extrajudicial killing” in Guyanese history was PNC’s Burnham having WPA’s Rodney assassinated!!
…of the pygmies
Now, lest your Eyewitness be accused of being “unfair” by ignoring the remaining TWENTY-ONE other parties registered for the Sept 1st polls, let him start off by mentioning one that came absolutely out of the blue: GoAMERICA. As one who gotta peruse EVERY media item on Guyana EVERY day, he only learnt of this entity (?) the morning when GECOM released the names of the parties registering their symbols.
He was just informed by a report in one of the dailies that GoAmerica’s symbol was an eagle – it wasn’t clear whether it was a Guyanese harpy eagle or the American bald eagle. So since the latter is that country’s national bird – and on their national seal – your Eyewitness wonders if the Yanks are gonna be raising objections!!
From the report, this new party – whose acronym is spelt out: “Guyanese on Accountability, Meritocracy, Equality, Reform, Inclusion, and Collaboration with America” – appears to be a single-issue group. Having the US under Trump take over Guyana.
While deporting immigrants from shit*ole countries wholesale?
…and winning
… The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bread to the wise nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
