Dear Editor,
I write concerning the advice by the Canadian Government, through their office in Port of Spain telling the PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, not to travel to Canada this weekend.
First, I would like say I feel strongly that Her Excellency, High Commissioner Chatterjee, was put in a difficult position with respect to that decision and so the Port of Spain office issued that advisory to the Hon. Ali.
The High Commissioner was given a tongue lashing by the Government of Guyana over the Charrandass Persaud matter. What we are seeing by the Government of Canada is the policy of appeasement to the GoG and possibly bowing to the pressures of the “A” and the “B”. It’s no, no secret that both the “A” and the “B” were not happy with the PPP/C. The “C” joined with the GoG to persecute the PPP/C former Minister with the imposition of Sittlington at SOCU. In spite of the repeated calls by the Opposition, Greg Quinn renewed Sittlington’s contract who operated as if SOCU was his private outfit. How embarrassing it must be to Canada’s Port of Spain office now that Sittlington is no more. Canada was led up a path and abandoned by the British.
Why I say this, the worst British HC I have seen in my four decades in public life in Guyana is the current one. He professed that the PPP doesn’t like him, but it was his actions that isolated him and his office from the non-government half of the nation. However, as soon as he saw the PPP/C victory at the LGE polls there was an about-turn and poor HC Chatterjee was left out in the cold.
Where is the “A” in all of this? There is no rocket science secret that the “A” didn’t mind seeing the back of the PPP/C. The fact that the PPP/C is on record as being anti- the Exxon contract and that the PPP/C would not allow an American company to run over the resources of Guyana, is very abhorrent to the US State Depart-ment. Remember “Carter’s” words to President Jagdeo that he is not interested in elections, but oil, economy and constitution reform. How strange that Ambassa-dor Holloway is back in Guyana as the `VP Governmental Affairs’ of the largest gold operation here. But here is the clincher, recently Canada bowed to US pressure and arrested Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, the telecommunications giant. Her father was founder and builder of Huawei. But why Guyana? Is the big question. Answer: oil. A PPP/C government they feel may not be the better alternative. So the answer is discredit the PPP/C leaders. Canada, maybe Ottawa, and not Georgetown made that decision.
I again want to commend HC Chatterjee for two positions she took. Sometime in October 2018 she publicly stated that she was interested in free and fair elections. This was a position where the “C” was leading the “A” and the “B”. Of course, I applaud the assistance to Charrandass.
I am sure HC Chatterjee, Candidate Ali, appreciates and understands. The travel advisory has helped not hurt him and the PPP/C. We know that western justice systems operate on the principle of innocent until proven guilty. Ali has a country to develop he was no flight risk. Positions I know the HC advanced.
Yours faithfully,
Manzoor Nadir
