Latest update April 17th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 11, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Speculatively, if there was to be a rift within the government, most persons would have expected that this rift would have been between the AFC and the APNU. Given the weakness of the small parties within APNU, it was never likely that any of those parties would have broken ranks with the PNCR.
The smaller parties – the Guyana Action Party, the Working Peoples Alliance, National Democratic Front, Justice for All Party and the National Front Alliance – are electorally insignificant. As Guyanese would say, these parties are simply “making up numbers.” There was never going to be a split within APNU.
What is taking place at the moment is that there is an intra-PNCR split. There is a rift within the PNC and this is what is behind the controversy over Joseph Harmon is about.
Joseph Harmon is being used as a pawn by forces of the old guard of the PNC who want to retake their party from what they view as a take-over by military veterans. It has now been confirmed in a Demerara Waves report that there is no rift between the President and his Minister of State. As it has been said, if the Minister of State had done anything wrong then he would have been gone.
What has been happening is that members of the old guard of the PNC have been deeply concerned at what they perceive as the alienation of the hardline, old guard PNCites from the government. Instead of them seeing more of their members holding major appointments within the government, they are seeing instead a large number of military veterans being given jobs, including positions of presidential advisers. The old guard is concerned about over developments, and are fearful of the party slipping from their grasp.
It was never assumed when the old guard used their influence within the leadership of the PNCR to pilot David Granger to the leadership of the party that the combined opposition would have actually denied the PPP a majority in the National Assembly in the 2011 elections. This took the old guard by surprise.
They also did not cater for the fact that David Granger would have been such a strong leader. He has taken command of the party and of the government and has not allowed himself, like some others on the other side of the political divide, to be dominated by underlings.
He is being supported by his Minister of State who is also a strong leader. The old guard has, this time correctly assessed the situation, and they are seeking to plant the seeds of discord within the ruling party.
They have been successful in creating a fuss over the appointment of a ministerial adviser on business. The old PNC guard has created a furor over this matter and forced a knee- jerk reaction from the government. They know that if they can get at Harmon, they will weaken Granger. This is what is playing out right now in the party and in the government.
The AFC has nothing to do with the leaked instrument appointing a businessman as a Ministerial Adviser. The AFC is not part of any attempt to undermine the government or seize political space. The AFC is quite comfortable basking in the political fame that it has secured because of the deal it brokered to have 40% of the spoils in the last elections. It got the deal of a lifetime and will live with that deal for a lifetime.
The real dogfight is soon to come. It will be between the old guard and the new guard within the PNCR. The old guard is trying to make a comeback. They do not intend to be left behind by the winds of change. They are, of course, genuinely concerned about the penetration by veterans of their party and they would like to feel that the idea of a grand opposition coalition originated within their camp and therefore it is them who should benefit from positions and power within the government.
Joseph Harmon is not the problem. The problem is the fight for influence within the PNCR. The dissent will pass. The old guard has no bite and no bark. Like a fart, the present shenanigans is a minor discomfort.
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