…against PPP Govt
If, as some realists would have it, “politics is war by other means”, then, from where your Eyewitness sits, we shouldn’t be surprised at the “war on every front and by every means” strategy unleashed on the PPP Government by the PNC and their camp followers. After all, the founder-leader of the PNC – Forbes Burnham – wasn’t only a political realist, but a most cynical one at that! He’d drank most deeply from the fountain of Machiavelli – the man who still epitomises political cynicism! Burnham institutionalised the Machiavellian outlook in his party.
In such a worldview, there are no Marquis of Queensbury rules – not even the Geneva Convention!! With the PNC, it’s “take no prisoners” and burnt earth tactics when facing their “enemy”. Yes…the PPP and their supporters aren’t just “political opponents”, but “enemies” who must be “vanquished”. Remember Burnham’s “make your will” and “sharper steel” warnings? This is what the PPP Government must expect.
At this moment, there are two prongs to the unfolding of the strategy. One is the fanning out of the various “wings” of the party – who’re vying to take over the leadership – to mobilise the base for the upcoming Armageddon. Each faction is trying to “outbid” the other in the radicalisation sweepstakes. Every positive action by the PPP is given a “racial” slant. House lots at Linden? Stress that the PPP administration was just trying to insult PNC supporters by offering bribes to switch their allegiance. As if political parties never think about votes!! One wonders why the PNC is therefore concerned about losing votes!!
“Because We Care” monetary grants for schoolchildren? Look at how the PPP axis is “skipping” PNC villages!! Never mind they never identify these “skipped villages”, cause they know folks will hear what they want to hear in our racially polarised society.
But the other prong is more proactive, by having all the PNC front organisations conduct a guerrilla war of “hit and run” against the Government. So, we see the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) take on the Ministry of Education by personalising their attacks against the very energetic Minister. They accuse her of not involving them in the measures against the COVID- 19 pandemic, but, contradictorily, stridently accuse her of getting them too involved in the distribution of the school grants! Headmasters shouldn’t be bookkeepers!!
Over in GECOM, the PNC Commissioners have walked out of the meeting convened to discuss and decide on the future of the three Secretariat employees charged with “abuse of their offices”. So, THE GECOM Secretariat, which is supposed to get ready for Local government elections, is paralysed.
The GPSU? We’ll see them after their internecine war to get more radical leadership is finished!!
…against corruption
Your Eyewitness remains intrigued by the insistence of a lunatic fringe of the PNC, hysterically insisting that “regime change” was effected in Guyana by “western powers”!! So, your Eyewitness would like to know exactly at what point was this “intervention” made. Was it on the day of the elections – March 2nd? All the 2300 polling stations across the country completed their tasks by the evening, and President Granger praised one and all for the wonderful exercise of democracy. In fact, according to one news report, “Granger praised GECOM for the way they conducted the polls, and warned Guyanese that the PPP/C will be spreading what he termed “fake news.” The PPP!!
Was it when the tabulation was halted after Mingo was rushed to GPHC, or was it when he illegally conjured up numbers from spreadsheets and had to be slapped down by the Courts? Or maybe when he ignored the directions and repeated his crime on a dirty bedsheet? Your Eyewitness and other inquiring minds want to know!!
…against insurrectionists
In South Africa – a bold experiment in fostering multiracial governance since the fall of apartheid in 1994 – opportunistic racial looting and arson erupted after former President Zuma was imprisoned over corruption charges fallout.
Where have you gone Madiba?
