Alexander attacks Granger’s ‘power grab’

Former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) stalwart and activist Vincent Alexander on Tuesday expressed dismay at the fact that chairman of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger is running for the leadership of the PNCR with the hope of holding both posts.
In a letter addressed to the editor, Alexander said Granger had indicated that he did not see the need for the two posts to be held by one individual. According to Alexander, Granger argued that “Corbin, with his knowledge of the party, and his political experience, was well-poised to spearhead the rebuilding of the party while he, Granger, focused on alliance and parliamentary politics. Team and division of labour was the mantra.”
He said the views presented in the past were proven correct and the APNU coalition, with a candidate other than a leader from the PNCR performed credibly, and recovered seats that the PNCR lost in 2006. This, he said, was evident in Regions Four, Seven and 10.
“It is therefore surprising that Mr Granger on the occasion of the anniversary of the fledging alliance now finds favour with the position that the two offices should be held by one person, and offers himself as that person, although not much has changed to justify his change of heart and view, on the matter,” Alexander said.
He continued: “In fact, the position of leader of the opposition, which is a broad-based, fledging alliance, demands his attention on two fronts: One, leading the alliance, which must be naturally challenging and demanding and two, building the alliance, which undoubtedly requires deep thought, much energy and astute leadership.”
He argued that with each member of the alliance having its own leader, it would serve the alliance well to have a leader who could stand above the fray and command the position of leader of the alliance, rather than being boxed into the corner of one of the partners.
“It would also serve the alliance well to have a leader who could be arbiter, rather than a representative of a partner, not to mention the benefit that could be derived by adding another capable person to the collective, the team.”
Alexander, who was nominated in 2007 to contest for the post of PNCR leader, believes that the party and the APNU “owe it to themselves to prevail on Mr Granger to let wisdom prevail in the interest of all concerned APNU and the PNCR”.
He said in 2007, he pointed out that the post of leader of the PNCR need not be its presidential candidate, a view he said was also shared by Granger.
“The view then was that the party in its desire to enter into a broad electoral alliance should not enter into conditional negotiations. It was also felt that a non-PNCR leader as the candidate could attract voters, who would not vote for an alliance with a PNCR leader as the presidential candidate. The state of the party also necessitated a dedicated leader.” Alexander noted too that in 2011, the PNCR invited nominations for the post of presidential candidate, and stipulated that the candidate need not be a party member.
Only last week, former PNCR executive member Joseph Hamilton also criticised Granger for his decision to run for the top position in the party, while accusing him of trying to become a “maximum leader”.
Hamilton, who resigned from the party in 2007, is currently a parliamentary secretary for the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). He said Granger was returning to old school politics by seeking to singly hold all three major opposition posts: leader of the PNCR, opposition leader, and chairman of the APNU.
Hamilton said Granger was not interested in allowing new blood or a cadre of new leaders to take control of the 55-year-old party founded by Forbes Burnham, and was seeking to project himself at the helm of the entity, so that he could have total control of the opposition.
“You have to decide what you want… you cannot be in contradiction of yourself… you cannot speak to the new politics and new dispensation saying that gone are the days of the maximum leader, and yet everything you do is suggesting that you want to be a maximum leader,” Hamilton reasoned during an interview on TVG’s Current Issues and Analysis Show.
Hamilton said he strongly believes that Granger comes from the “old maximum leader school”, and therefore, cannot easily do away with the ideologies of power and total control; hence, his move to hold all the senior opposition posts. He said similar actions by past PNCR leaders have resulted in many persons defecting from the party, because their views and contributions were not taken onboard.
Granger in a recent interview told this publication that he believes the responsibility of the APNU chairman, leader of the opposition and PNC ought to be combined, given the nature of the dispensation.
“At this point, my main reason is to bring together the responsibilities of leader of the opposition, chairman of APNU and the leadership of the PNC, because I feel we are in a new political dispensation and historically, it is the first time that it is a real necessity for those three positions to be combined. We never had a partnership before which combines the efforts of 10 political parties, we never had a situation in the National Assembly before where the leader of the opposition is leading the majority, so it is a trinity of responsibilities if you want to call it that,” Granger said.