Guyana has to wait some more years for its Imran Khan moment

Dear Editor,

He never believed in ordinary moments and yet again as he did in 1992 in the World Cup Cricket, he pulled off an extraordinary feat by banishing the corrupt families of Pakistan to the periphery of government.  Remember a decade ago, Imran Khan won a single seat in Parliament, today he is going to be the Head of State of the whole country on the strength of the people.

Guyana lost its Imran Khan moment when the AFC Gang of 6 grew opportunistic for power in 2015 and surrendered this generation of youths and the rational middle for personal perks, sirens and enrichment for a select few.

The rest is history and the rational middle will have to wait for another generation for a shot at genuine political power because of this political blunder by Nagamootoo, Ramjattan and Trotman.  The PPP will get its block of votes which has expanded since 2015 and the PNC will get their block too. That is a guarantee.  However, the rational middle will remain homeless unless they choose a side because there is no one in the middle to trust in 2020.  It is better to go with the political forces you know, meaning the PPP and the PNC rather than an untested group who might very well do an AFC on the people by misrepresenting their political positions.  The choice is clear – PPP, PNC, or stay home.

PNC was alert enough to have deciphered the opportunism of the AFC’s Gang of 6 but played a stroke of deception and subterfuge on them by promising them a Coalition of Equals even on paper by way of the Cummingburg Accord.  But as history has revealed that was never to be as Moses Nagamootoo found out at his first cabinet meeting.  The Cummingsburg Accord was mentally torn up and trashed at that meeting.  Since that meeting, the AFC Gang of 6 was reduced to a group of political poodles in the government.  Yes, they get invited to the meetings, but they do not make the decisions. Harmon makes decisions, Basil makes decisions, even Broomes makes decisions but not Ramjattan, Trotman or Nagamootoo.

If one listens carefully to the utterances of the PNCR General Secretary Amna Ally, it is clear as day that the AFC Gang of 6 has been given their instructions – fall in as the political window dressing at Congress Place or you can go your way.  But the AFC Gang of 6 has nowhere to go.  They lost their membership, their political infrastructure, their financiers and their rationality. 

Long story short, Guyana has to wait some more years for its Imran Khan moment and must satisfy itself with the PPP and PNC in 2020. 

Yours faithfully,

Sase Singh