A recent poll shows unprecedented popularity of President Irfaan Ali, VP Bharrat Jagdeo, the Cabinet, and the PPP Government. This is reflected everywhere that the President, the VP, and other cabinet members show up. The Irfaan Ali-led PPP Government is changing what participatory democracy means. The Government outreach programme, with the President and Cabinet being among the people almost on a daily basis, was invented by Bharrat Jagdeo. Today, President Irfaan Ali has taken it to another level not visible anywhere else in the world.
But even as the Government is busy involving the Guyanese people in Guyana’s development trajectory, these days, a new category of narcissists has emerged in Guyana. They are called “gaslighters”. These people create an enemy or a crisis, and then take credit for solving the crisis or for removing the enemy. Guyana’s champion “gaslighter” and narcissist is Aubrey Norton. He is clueless, has no vision, no plan for the country, and no plan to rescue the PNC from its descent into oblivion. He has resorted to lies and innuendos, creating a fake crisis and pretending to solve it.
Usually, Lindeners give the PNC Leader a royal welcome. But few Lindeners bothered to even acknowledge his presence. Fewer turned out to listen to him. The PNC Leader was essentially rejected in what is the strongest, most loyal base of the PNC. Neither Norton nor his party could provide Lindeners with the barest of signals that the PNC represented a better choice for the people of Region 10 than the Government of President Irfaan Ali. The people’s response told Norton enough – that their strongest base has become disillusioned with them. He left Linden totally deflated.
What made this Linden rejection worrisome for Norton is that the visit followed another visit, the one made by Guyana’s VP Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the General Secretary of the PPP. Bharrat Jagdeo was embraced and given a royal, rock-star welcome. The VP mingled and interacted with Lindeners, who could not have enough of him. For a full two days, the VP spoke of development in Linden, and Region 10 and in Guyana. Guyana’s VP spoke of the vision for our country, our people, particularly the youths. The people of Region 10 and Linden know that Guyana is in good hands.
Showing up in Linden after the VP, Aubrey Norton had no explanation why the PNC abandoned Linden and Region 10 when they were in control of Government between 2015 and 2020. He was clueless in assuring Lindeners that the PNC could ever reclaim the Government. This was when “gaslighting” became the only option left to him. This was when resorting to lies and misinformation became the only vision Norton could offer the people who steadfastly supported him and the PNC for decades now. His main message was a total fabrication: the PPP has plans to raise electricity rates for Lindeners. The PPP has no such plan, and this was not even an issue that emerged during the VP’s visit to Linden. With the Government’s forceful rejection of Norton’s lies, Norton’s position is that the PPP has backed-off after he exposed the PPP’s plan. He created a crisis, and then pretended he solved it for Lindeners. In the process, Norton made his woes worse, because Lindeners now feel insulted that he thinks they are stupid.
But this has become the MO of Norton and the PNC: fabricating a crisis and then pretending they brought solutions. Take the OIL deal. Norton is now calling for adjustments to the EXXON contract. He completely pretends that the PNC had nothing to do with the horrendous, one-sided EXXON Oil deal. He now demands the PPP must adjust the agreement. The PPP has always said that the deal was a bad one, but a contract nonetheless. The PPP has always said whenever and wherever opportunities for adjustments to existing deals arise, those opportunities would be taken. A number of adjustments have already been made, and the PPP has insisted that, for any new development, new contracts would ensure Guyana maximises our benefits. Now Norton, whose party is solely responsible for the bad EXXON deal, is pretending he is leading Guyana’s effort to have a better deal. They created this bad situation, and now he is pretending he is the inspiration for a solution.
The appointment of a Police Commissioner is another of the crises they created and are now using as an example of PPP bad governance. There is no Leader of the Opposition, something the PNC bears total responsibility for. There is no Police Service Commission because a PNC-backed former Chairman has asked the courts to prevent the appointment of a new commission. So, the President is unable to consult anyone, creating a “doctrine of necessity”. This is entirely a contrived crisis. Local Government elections need to be held soon. The PNC wants two things – the removal of the GECOM Chair and a new voters’ list. These will mean no Local Government elections this year or anytime soon. Every day, the PNC finds new fabrications to create a crisis, and then figure out how it can take credit for solving the problem. But the Guyanese people are too wise to be “gaslighted” again.
