OPINION: PPP Central Committee Elections: who said that the PNC were the master riggers in Guyana?

Last Updated on Sunday, 5 May 2024, 23:40 by Writer

by GHK Lall

I had repeatedly warned Attorney General Anil Nandlall that he was spending too much time in court chasing after Exxon’s interests. Now, look at what happened to him in the PPP Central Executive elections. It is a public humiliation, where he barely managed to get his nose inside the top ten. It was not just where he finished, but who came out ahead of him. He was not the only one at the PPP Congress who was taught a lesson about harboring ambitions and being put in their place. It was also a signal to the PPP faithful about who is in total command, and who must be obeyed without question. In sum, the PPP Congress’s Central Committee (CENTCOMM) elections were about who is in charge, who is up, who is down, and who is on the way out.

Before proceeding, I repeat an oft-stated belief: the PPP is a national enterprise unworthy of emulation, and this election just confirmed it. It is more than a farce; it is a comedy that should be tested in the courts. Imagine almost 3,000 delegates from across Guyana and look at some of the good folks they ended up with for a presence in the PPP CENTCOMM. If that sounds familiar, it should. For that is how the US Armed Forces High Command assigns its assets. As everyone knows, there have been some generals who were not fit a fart. Look at who the PPP gives to Guyana, the supposedly best of the beautiful that the one-man party settled for and put on public display.

There is the invisible and inaudible high up in the final count, a man who nobody knows his real substance, if he has any potential, so much he is overwhelmed by the shadow of the bigger bosses and brighter lights. But there he is, close to the top, and way ahead of Anil Nandlall. I am still reeling from Mustafa finishing ahead of the kshatriya, and the indigenous in front of the intelligent one. Somebody went crazy over at that PPP Congress, with fuses short-circuiting, and Anil the biggest loser. These are not only double blows, but a rain of body blows on good soldier Anil. Then there are the much talked about (in an extremely negative way), but the voters saw some redeeming value in them. The risible and the questionable are in, and if that is not ridiculous then nothing would ever qualify. Geez, this must be Guyana. Check out how one man (Jagdeo) is so smart that he allowed Irfaan Ali to edge him out. Now that is what I call wiles, the best in guile. I label that a fixit for a ticket to the general elections’ wicket. I look at the top 10 and it reinforces what I have always said. The PPP is about mediocrity and what is shadowy.

Many held Vindya as a rising star only for her to be consigned to the role of falling angel. I remember Lucifer, and I must consult with non-Christian scripture for his female counterpart. To err is human, but get too pushy with the Gods and it is down and out. I also remember that fellow from Greek mythology, Icarus. He flew too high too fast, and then too close to the sun. A plummeting passing thought he became. After all the busy work that Vindya did, this is the fate of a daughter of the PPP aristocracy. She may have earned a middling number in the PPP CENTCOMM, but it is someone embarrassed to a place reserved for a nonentity. What could be said about Donny ‘Renegotiate the Contract’ Ramotar and Clemmie ‘The Living on Past Performance’ Rohee, the two old bulls with ideas, other than one is on his way down, and the latter is on his way out. For a man who used to boast about how goat aint bite he, clearly some miscalculation occurred, and a mule kick to the head resulted. No question that Clemmie was the wrong man in the wrong place, a man past both his prime as well as his time. The Jaganites are a spent force, the Jagdeo-ites are the real deal. Frankly, as I went through the list of winners and losers, I was shocked to come across some names. I thought that they had migrated or had already said their last goodbyes and went upstairs.

Bringing all this together, I came to this place. Whoever said that the PNC were the biggest election riggers that this country has ever seen had better stamp out that thought and start over from scratch. The difference is that nobody in the PPP is complaining, not even those who finished below where they ought to be. They dare not whisper a word of disappointment at their premediated and prearranged place in the PPP pecking order, for a worse fate could befall them. It is highly unlikely that Mr. Norton will have the same luxury come his party’s Congress and elections.