Dear Editor,
I have tried to refrain from saying anything unpleasant about Dr Van West Charles’s self-promoting effort of trying to wrest the leadership of the PNC from Mr Corbin. It is not that I am an ardent supporter of Mr Corbin, but replacing a perceptibly weak leader with someone without any leadership qualities is ludicrous.
There is a constitutional requirement stating that no one can become the President of Guyana unless s/he has resided in Guyana for seven consecutive years immediately prior to the date of nomination. How is this going to affect Mr Van West’s ambition to be the head of the PNC and thus the candidate for President of Guyana? Does he intend to live in Guyana for the required period and then move to be Guyana’s president?
There are others within the PNC’s reach who are much more qualified than Van West to be the leader of the PNC – Alexander, Murray, Benschop, Eric Phillips, to name a few. The PNC must renew its image and move away from the old and tired political retreads that the party feeds its supporters. There must be fresh names adhering to the principle to stand up and be accountable, and not give the people the same old tired non-inspiring political sloths that abused the people’s confidence and interest in the past.
Personally, I don’t care who the leader of the PNC is. My position is that if the leader of the PNC has a more than 45% chance of becoming the President of Guyana then it is my obligation to voice my opinion, when the said person has shown no leadership qualities or the internal fortitude to stand up for what is right, even if it means personal sacrifice.
We had some twenty-eight years of PNC dictates. Currently, we are undergoing some two decades of mismanagement and extreme political weakness from the PPP. Replacing Corbin with Van West Charles would be a continuance of the very ineptitude that gave us the last two regimes. Can’t we in Guyana be more progressive in our efforts to choose a leader who is altruistic in relation to the nation, instead of a political neophyte?
Observe what we have as leadership, and also observe how we as a people are absconding to distant shores. We have not had a progressive leader since Guyana became independent. To the contrary, what we have had are opportunists who through luck or friendship have become the leaders of Guyana, unprepared for the rigors of holding the office to which they ascended.
Anyone who blindly supported Burnham during his reign does not deserve consideration to become the leader of the PNC or the President of Guyana. While the Guyanese populace were suffering with the many shortages of foodstuff and medicines, and being intimidated by the police, those who remained silent gave tacit support to this suffering. Mr Van West Charles and many others who aspire to be the leader of the PNC were silent, and to an extent are still silent, for they have never given an explanation of why they remained silent while the masses suffered. I hope that Van West does not think that those who saw the suffering while he remained silent are now deceased, and he may be able to recreate himself and fool some people.
He has not at any time, offered any directive against Burnham’s policies. Now he is the knight in shining armour trying to save Guyana from destruction.
Where did he come from? While others, including myself were criticizing Burnham’s dictates, Van West and others were reaping the soup of misery from the Guyanese people. The query is, why is it that he Van West has never publicly opposed any of his father-in-law’s policies? Is it because he agreed with everything that Burnham did, or was it that he was afraid of Forbes? As far as I am concerned a man is responsible for what he says and what he has failed to say. Van West chose to say nothing. Today he tries to make us believe that he is qualified to be the head of the opposition, at a time when many are questioning the silence of Mr Corbin. What resistance would the West show against President Jagdeo and/or the PPP if he is viewed as weak and without innate principles to oppose the mis-steps of the PPP/C government?
Do you mean to tell me that nothing that Burnham did was against Mr Van West Charles’s principles? Now all of a sudden he has the political fortitude to become the leader of the PNC and thus “maybe” President of Guyana. Is he only interested in his own self interest? What is he going to do if he gets into office? If he had no qualms supporting Burnham how is he going to be any different from his father-in-law? Van West’s association with and support of Burnham while the whole of Guyana suffered, makes him ineligible to become the head of the PNC and thus the head of state of Guyana.
Remember how he was viewed while he was Minister of Health. A do-nothing fence-sitter content with making politicking a family affair. After sitting on his father-in-law’s coat-tails amid the suffering of the Guyanese people, he now tries to show that he is qualified to be a leader of some magnitude as well as president, because he lived abroad for many years. It is possible that people may change, but they must remove any doubts that they are not the same. Living abroad without clarifying the new you is not enough to change minds and opinions about the past, nor does living abroad constitute a reformation of self. You are still what you were before you left.
Guyana would be best served if the PNC chose someone who has shown the strength to oppose that which is wrong with Guyana’s politicians and politics.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick Barker
