Demands…

… of the AFC spoiler
In politics, a “spoiler” is the candidate whose chances of winning are zilch, but still may garner enough votes as to cause the loss of one of the leading candidates. In Guyana, this is the role the Alliance For Change (AFC) plays. But nowadays, with a twist. It may’ve started out as “a plague on both houses” when Raphael Trotman and Sheila Holder were at the head table. But with their departure, Khemraj Ramjattan has recalibrated the mission of the AFC – a simpler, more cynical mantra: GET the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C).
It intends to be a spoiler only for the PPP/ C. Reason? Well, Ramjattan was bitch- slapped so hard after the stunt he pulled against the A Partnerhsip for National Unity (APNU) at Linden that his head is still spinning. Stung by his rejection by the people of Linden at the 2011 elections, when all the votes brought in by Trotman and Holder in 2006 abandoned him, Ramjattan tried to embarrass the APNU by claiming the latter had betrayed Lindeners.
But in the aftermath of the protest and killings that his extremism precipitated, it was Nigel Hughes who received all the accolades. Ramjattan became an afterthought.
This wouldn’t do, decided the rabidly ambitious Ramjattan. Hence the recalibration to go after only the PPP/ C’s base. The plan is that he would be waterboy to the People’s National Congress (PNC)/ APNU, but couldn’t make that too obvious. So last week he decides he wouldn’t meet President Donald Ramotar at the same time as David Granger – as part of the tripartite talks the president had already initiated. But you would notice he didn’t take Hughes or Moses Nagamootoo with him.
But no one is fooled. Reading his report of the demands, he echoed APNU’s line to such an extent that he would’ve been hard put to explain he was not one and the same as the old PNC crew. Or he plagiarised!! Take the chopping-off of the funds for the Amaila Falls Hydro Project from the budget. We can see the PNC/ APNU wouldn’t want this to come to fruition: the PPP/ C would earn so much goodwill from the drop in electricity charges to consumers that the PNC/ APNU’s goose would be cooked.
So what’s the AFC’s excuse? None. The same for the cut of the subsidy to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) to stop present tariffs from being raised.
PNC/ APNU don’t care – Linden is still receiving its electricity practically free. What’s the AFC’s excuse? None. The only question that remains now is: “Why doesn’t Ramjattan stop the charade and join the PNC/ AFC officially?” After all, he’s going to be squeezed out of the AFC’s leadership by Hughes-Nagamootoo.
.. of the Stabber News
And here we thought that the Stabber News was all for “One People, One Nation and One Destiny”. At least that’s the line it tried to portray all these years.
So we thought the Stabber would’ve been pleased as Punch when the demands for “Indian Arrival Day” were watered down to “Arrival Day” – to include all the groups that “arrived” here.
But in its Sunday’s edition, it snarkily claimed that, “While on May 5, the 175th anniversary of Indian Arrival was commemorated, there was another anniversary two days earlier that slipped by unnoticed. May 3rd marked the 178th year since the Portuguese first arrived in this country.” Now this is a fine accusation!!! Last time we looked, the holiday was still “Arrival Day”. So what stopped all the descendants of the Portuguese, who did arrive and did perform yeoman service for this country, from “noticing”? Or even those, like the Editor-in-Chief of the Stabber Anand Persaud, who were made honorary members of the fraternity, from also so doing? The descendants of the Indians did their thing on their own.
… of the “Big Maninja”
The head of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), Komal Chand was assured by no other than the president that the “Big Maninja” wasn’t earning US$ 25,000 monthly. So ask Dr Rupert Roopnaraine why he lied in parliament.