Budget Demagoguer

Outcast

We understand Aubrey Norton’s angst. Really we do. Summarily thrown out on his ear from the chairmanship of the PNC by Hoyte (the “General Secretary is my ‘creature’”), he’s had a devil of a time in getting back into the swing of things.

For a while he thought he stood a chance when he betrayed his buddy Mac Allister in the Team Alexander manoeuvre to oust Corbin. But Corbin, like Burnham decades before with Hamilton Green, knew about naked ambition and ensured Norton remained on the periphery.

Granger followed suit, even though Norton worked his butt off in Linden last November. And Norton keeps trying to show he’s of value so that he could sit at the big table once again. He’s reduced to writing letters to the press cussing out the PPP for one reason or another – not that he needs a reason.

Then along came the budget. He writes that the budgeted amount for spending on Region Four – where APNU won – is proportionately far below what the PPP spends on regions that the PPP won. He doesn’t bother to let the readers guess what his alleged figures mean, he spells it out. The PPP’s spending paints “a picture of discrimination and political favouritism” against PNC/ APNU supporters – read “African Guyanese”..

This allegation is emblematic of the political prostitution of one’s soul that has guaranteed that this country will never get anywhere. The truth of the matter is that most of the spending for governmental services in Georgetown comes out of the central government’s budget – not the Region Four budget.

Take Georgetown Hospital – which is the local hospital for Georgetown residents – the government foots the bill. Take all the schools – the best in the country, mind you – ditto. And so on and so forth.

What makes Norton’s diatribe so depressing is that the government points out the facts every year – but like clockwork, the PNC, now APNU, and AFC regurgitate the inflammatory lies.

And the Muckraker and Stabber print them without the editorial notes they regularly append to interventions of defenders of the government.

Norton’s desperate bid for political relevance, we can understand – a drowning man will grab at any straw – but we hope the APNU/ AFC leadership gets out of the gutter this time.

Political chameleon

In Greek mythology Proteus is the seer whose apparent identity is so unstable that no one knows who he is. First he poses as an old man, then a tall green tree, then a blinding fire.

He is constantly changing form. By changing his identity, no one can pin him down long enough to make him reveal the truth.

In the modern world we have some individuals that consciously imitate Proteus either because they want to ingratiate themselves with others and they have little self esteem.

They go along to get along. Or then there are those ambitious ones who just say what it is expedient to further their plans for self aggrandisement.

We wonder into which group Minister Priya Manickchand belongs. As a decent lawyer she knows that the grounds on which Justice Chang rejected the DPP’s recommendation on Greene are impeccable. So she just wants to fit in with the Georgetown Sisterhood? Where are these people when it doesn’t fit their political purpose? We don’t see them marching in the streets against Sharma.

Social chameleon

GHK Lall used to have a column in the Stabber – The View from Below. From his writings, the perspective was self explanatory – he lived in a cave. He predicts that President Ramotar will not change Jagdeo’s policies. Why should he? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Dolt!