Despite excellent delaying strategies by His Excellency’s People’s National Congress (PNC) dominance, circumstances – dictated from without – have now propelled all interested into top-flight elections mode.
Three weeks ago, we invited you to consider speculation, facts from some leaked intelligence and some public postures regarding the major parties’ campaign strategies. Another high-profile session was held recently. See how much you believe.
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PNC War Room agenda
His Excellency the PNC leader outlined the gravity: “This will be truly the mother of all elections! You-all know what is at stake. Lose this one and our people’s future is in dire jeopardy! The plan was – and is – for the February 2020 Jubilee Republic celebrations to overwhelm the electorate preceding the poll. I can’t say it’s now up to Justice Claudette but we’ll see what happens. Now here is where we are.
Agenda items to attract serious discussion and implementation: (1) Ministers and other parliamentarians to increase (governmental) campaigns for the hinterland vote. (2) Congress Place to re-establish the internal account for so-far generous funding from New York/New Jersey/Connecticut, Georgia and Florida. (3) Every new and rehabilitated project must be publicized by Vice-President Nagamootoo’s three major outlets. (4) Continuation of highlighting of (alleged) atrocities during what the leader calls “the troubles”.
(5) Five (5) Local Authorities, supposedly PPP, have approached Minister Bulkan offering quiet support. (6) Henry Jeffrey and David Hinds are actually contributing to our campaign – both intellectually and practically.
Matters referred to the smaller inner caucus: The CID and Roger Khan, use of Khan; the now highly-sensitive operations at Justice Singh’s GECOM; Minister Felix’s info about current population figures, The Haitians and Venezuelans and crime and corruption in government and among the police. Deferred were the burning questions regarding His Excellency’s running mate and the role and fate of the AFC.
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PPP Situation Room priorities
General Secretary Jagdeo apparently didn’t know when to be triumphant or just seriously practical at this session. He did smile a lot however.
Burning issues! There were reasons to select Justice Claudette but you never know – house-to-house or September elections? We in the PPP cannot let them know now of our win-win situation, whatever is decided.
(2) Stay far away from Roger. Let him tell them his own tales. (3) A big-big worry was the courts and Irfaan. Should the party claim rabid victimisation – or substitute Frank? Deferred! (4) Between the oil company, the US Ambassador here and our American Lobbyist firm, there are still mixed signals. (5) Will Gail persuade Shuman? Another question deferred.
The session agreed that funding was no problem. Presidential candidate Irfaan is to continue mobilizing the youth, revealing manifesto plans such as Labour Ministry, household vouchers from petroleum revenues and removal of bothersome taxes. Although the party’s electoral campaign machinery is in high gear campaign strategy must decide whether to allow 14-year-olds to register! A dilemma. The session concluded in the inner caucus.
Four Emancipation considerations
I desisted to comment on the 181st Emancipation Anniversary last Friday. I knew that there would be a surfeit of addresses.
I have come up with just four issues for further contemplation, by folks interested, over the week-end. (As the more celebratory singing and dancing subsides.) And don’t regard the first two as trivial. It’s easy to do so.
One: Freed Africans arrived in the colony after “full freedom” in 1838. They were “looking for work”. They remained. So thousands of Afro-Guyanese today are not descended from slaves! Two: By 1839-1840 as the new African villages were being sabotaged, the ex-slaves had little savings or incomes. The Indian indentured males “approached” the African ladies. The Governor wrote the colonial Office advising that “the coolies and the Negresses were getting on ‘rather well’”. Few women came with the Indentureds at first.
The babies were Guyana’s first douglahs. The earliest manifestation of personal/social cohesion!? Three: Though the Emancipation/Abolition Act was passed in England in 1833 it was not operationalised until 1834. But it was explained to the disgusted angry “freed” slaves that they had to register as “apprentices” to continue working on their same plantations for four to six years. For nearly 50 hours per week they were to be paid some meagre wages.
Despite the efforts of Stipendiary Magistrates from 1834, relationships between partially-free Africans and plantation owners naturally nosedived. So full-Freedom August 1, 1838. Question: Was any aspect of the four-year apprenticeship beneficial to the slaves? They accumulated savings to purchase abandoned plantations to start the Village Movement! Discuss.
Four: WPA think-tank spokesman Dr David Hinds, in advising Afro-Guyanese to vote for “the group that has shown a willingness to take African Guyanese seriously”, is suggesting that the imminent oil wealth (distribution) must be “a form of internal reparations, for the social and economic violence meted out to Africans during and after slavery”. Wow! Bound to generate further discussion, right?
Now to ponder…
What will ANUG and the LJP take to the Elections Commission?
I learnt the verb “vitiated” from Justice Claudette Singh nearing 2000.
Will we ever overcome the blights of blackouts? Non-functioning 911? City-flooding? No big comfortable Omni-buses? Shoddy customer-service?
After oil production begins will Guyana produce athletes to run hurdles and do the pole-vault?
’Til next week!
