Dear Editor,
On October 6, 2014, the Guyana Times published an article captioned “PNCR not finished with Vanessa Kissoon.” In that article Guyana’s Opposition Leader, Mr. David Granger, who is also the leader of the APNU and PNC Reform (PNCR) adumbrated to the Times disciplinary measures against his party’s sitting Member of Parliament (MP), Ms. Vanessa Kissoon, for an alleged altercation with PNCR General Secretary Mr. Oscar Clarke.
Mr. Granger reportedly said that a so-called disciplinary committee was constituted and that following deliberations it substantiated an earlier suspension edict, and recommended that Ms. Kissoon apologises to Mr. Clarke. Mr. Granger asserted that Ms. Kissoon can face greater sanctions if she allegedly continues to ignore Party correspondences in this regard or fails to comply with the recommendations of the disciplinary committee.
I am flabbergasted! Why is the leader of the opposition discussing an internal party matter involving one of his MPs in the media, more so with a newspaper that his owned by his political opponents, who’s proven objective is to tarnish his and his party’s image? This is beyond my comprehension.
Ms. Kissoon is not a desk clerk. She occupies one of the highest offices in the country and deserves the respect and dignity of her party leader. How dare Mr. Granger disparage and humiliate her in the press in this manner?
I forcefully condemn Mr. Granger’s action in this regard. It is disgraceful that, in light of a no confidence motion against the government in the Parliament and the potentiality of early general elections, the country’s opposition leader is busy wasting time granting interviews about some frivolous confrontation about who should hand over office keys and making derogatory comments about one of his MPs, rather than making the case to the nation why the Parliament has no confidence in the PPP government.
What sensible political leader creates conflict and disunity within his own party by calculatingly going to his political opponents’ newspaper to denigrate one of his senior leaders? Doesn’t the opposition leader of Guyana have more important things to do and talk about, like doing his real job representing the people who elected him? No wonder his own constituents seem to have lost confidence in his leadership!
The optics of this fiasco create a devastating image challenge for the leadership of the PNCR. Reverberating in the minds of objective observers are the disgusting images of a group of old men continually prosecuting a relentless smear campaign and seemingly “beating-up” a young, female political leader over frivolities. Is this the message the party wants to send to our young people and to voters?
Mr. Granger’s comments have brought great ignominy to the PNCR and APNU. This nonsense must be brought to an immediate end!!
Yours faithfully,
Rickford Burke
Former Special Assistant
to the Leader of the PNC Reform
