Latest update May 12th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 20, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
The PPP returned to power in 1992 and showed that it didn’t learn a damn thing from its years in power between 1957 and 1964. Dr. Jagan travelled the same path as President as he did when he was Premier. Less than one year as President, Jagan, addressing his party congress in 1993, told his audience that he was still a Marxist- Leninist, thus openly reneging on the agreement with the Americans who brokered a 1991 election covenant with him.
From 1992 to the time it fell from power in May 2015, successive post-Jagan PPP presidents showed that they knew nothing about the sociological dangers that inhere in Guyanese society. The PPP Government was afraid to bat once Muralitharan or Warne were at the wicket ready to bowl. It gave the bowlers a large psychological advantage. As the years wore on, this lack of self-confidence led from one disaster to another.
Three immense faults led to a rut in the leadership of each PPP decision-maker – lack of public relations activism, evasion of the press and obdurate unwillingness to apologize. In politics, once a policy has congenital defects and you still need to implement it, then you have to use extraordinary vocabulary to market it.
Silence on the policy in the face of questions from the society will weaken your credibility if you do not at least attempt to explain and polish; some will call it spin.
One is simply amazed that the Cabinet has not designated a Minister to advise Mr. Colin Welch of the GPL on the qualification controversy. This columnist has no knowledge of Mr. Welch’s qualifications and therefore cannot comment. I accept that his credentials are in order. But there is a swirling controversy out there, born out of accusations.
Why not do a public relations task? Mr. Welch should describe his papers and kill the controversy. I was at a small birthday gathering where I saw Mr. Welch speaking with Mr. Glenn Lall and I know that the issue was what the Kaieteur News had published on the qualification thing. Afterwards, I went up to Mr. Lall, made an inquiry and asked Mr. Lall if Mr. Welch is going to reply. Mr. Lall said he thinks he will. But Mr. Welch and the Government have not done so to date.
One can imagine a government saying that it is a waste of time replying to people bent on creating nastiness. It is too busy to reply to every lie and it would not dignify the words of mischief-makers. But that is the nature of politics; you have to reply. And you have to reply for two reasons – to protect the credibility of governmental seniors and to weaken future attempts to circulate similar rumours.
In Guyana, politicians have to understand that we live in the 21st century, where social media transmit rumours to the world within seconds and social media can seek to turn fiction into fact.
I spoke to a WPA official about Christopher Ram’s resignation and suggested that the WPA reply to Ram’s letter on his departure. He said that such small things are not necessary to go into with the media. Now we don’t know if Mr. Ram left the WPA to attend to his pressing professional agenda or there was a falling out.
There are people who will think that the WPA cannot retain high-level personalities in its midst. For a party in government, it should explain Ram’s exit, because Ram wrote a letter stating he was no longer with the WPA. Suppose someone withdraws their support from the WPA because s/he is an admirer of Ram. That withdrawal would not be justified if the person knew that Ram left without any animosity.
It is the Robert Pyle/Carifesta Avenue car crash that is of extensive analytical interest to political observers, in that it seems to be leading the APNU-AFC Government into a direction of PPP deportment. If the PPP was in office and the Pyle tragedy had occurred, there would have been not one word of explanation. And as the days wore on, the story would have died.
This entire country expects the APNU-AFC hierarchy to face it with candor, courage and colossal willingness; to face Muralitharan and Warne. SOCU and Ministerial personnel should have met the press and explained the dimensions of the Pyle tragedy.
I believe that there was nothing sinister about what Pyle did. For all we know he did produce his intelligence identity card. The Government could have won the PR battle from day one if it went out to bat. It didn’t. It has to do better as the days, months and years unfold.
Listen how to run an oil country
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