PNCR presidential hopeful Dr Faith Harding will not be singing “Auld Lang Syne” with the army’s top brass at the stroke of midnight as she usually does now that she is aspiring to political office.
At the opening of her campaign office on Brickdam yesterday, Dr Harding disclosed that she has been “disinvited” from the GDF’s Old Year’s Night Ball which is held at Camp Ayanganna.
“I was rather disappointed this morning [yesterday] because most of the years I’ve been home even if its 10 minutes, [I’m at] the GDF Old Year’s Night Ball. I was there on to last year. But because I am now seen as someone running for political office I have been disinvited by the GDF which means I cannot buy a ticket,” Dr Harding said.
The former minister said she was told of her unwelcome status by a senior officer by telephone when she sought tickets for the ball.
“It shows the immaturity of our nation and this must change. People must be free to associate; this level of anxiety in our nation must change. I’m rather disappointed in the decision of the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force and I say it publicly because Guyana must change,” she declared.
When Stabroek News contacted Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Bruce Lovell on the matter he would only say that he had not seen Dr Harding’s statement and therefore “could not comment on the matter”.
According to Harding, the army’s move is an example of the kind of challenges facing the nation but they are surmountable. The lack of personal security, jobs, productive entities and the fear that there is no way out, she continued, were all the byproducts of Guyana’s politics.
“I will choose hope over disgust with the political landscape in our country and with politics practiced by people in our country. I have chosen unity of purpose over conflict to move forward,” she added.
Harding is one of four persons publicly identified as nominees for the PNCR’s presidential candidacy for the 2011 general elections with the others being attorney and Vice-Chairman Basil Williams, retired army Brigadier David Granger and Caricom economist and former finance minister Carl Greenidge.
As to be expected Harding reckons her chances of securing the party’s candidacy to be good. “I am the most experienced candidate so far that has been nominated to be elected through the PNCR’s process. I’ve held leadership positions in Guyana, within the United Nations and the World Bank Mission in East Timor, Liberia and the Sudan,” she declared.
Harding, 63, served as minister of state in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development as well as minister of public service in the Desmond Hoyte administration before taking up overseas postings which included work with the UN’s Department of Peace Keeping Operations. Currently, she is working on governance matters in South Sudan, which is preparing for a referendum on separation or continuation with North Sudan.
