Norton’s latest threats condemned

Comments by leader of the PNCR and the APNU+AFC Coalition, Aubrey Norton, resulted in his coming to blows from General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, who addressed the controversial statements during his news conference at Freedom House, Robb Street, on Thursday (May 18, 2023).

Norton, on Thursday morning (May 18, 2023), said, “The government seems to be pushing for a physical confrontation….we are not short of people for a physical confrontation.”

Rubbishing Norton’s comments, Jagdeo said, “Norton is a petty bully. He wants to talk tough… really, these guys are cowards…he is getting more and more desperate…he wants to sound like someone with gravitas.

“…for me personally, I would ignore his threats… but it is bad when the Leader of the Opposition threatens the country.”

The PPP General Secretary noted that this could be an area for action.

Other Threats

Last month, Jagdeo made clear that threats of “brute force and ignorance” by leader of the Norton, if followed through, will be met with the full force of the law. He had said, “That may have worked in the distant past. It will not work now.”

Norton’s comments came at a press engagement on April 13, 2023 morning, where he, complaining about the preparation by the Guyana Elections Commission

(GECOM) for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE), said, “The PPP is not a democratic government. And so nothing impacts (the PPP) except brute force and ignorance, whether it's their action or their opponents.”

In response, Jagdeo made clear that old PNCR tactics will not be allowed to make a return to negatively impact Guyanese society. He said, “As we have come to expect, we have had a lot of gaffe, very poorly researched positions taken by the Leader of the Opposition. So he’s returned to the theme he is very familiar with – that is threatening the country and the People’s Progressive Party…so he said the PPP understands only brute force and ignorance. We know that he can display that with a high degree of sophistication – brute force and ignorance. But let me say to Mr. Norton, we don’t feel threatened and that may have worked in the distant past, very very distant past, but we will never allow what happened in the past to go unanswered. His brute force and ignorance will be met with a strong response from the law of the country, should he seek to do that.”

Explaining why Norton’s comments amount to gaffe, the PPP General Secretary and Vice President charged that the embattled leader of the PNCR-led Coalition is humbugged by limited capacity to act. “His capacity to do so is limited, given people fleeing (the PNCR) in droves because they are uninspired by his leadership and by their future – they have no future whatsoever given the current posture of that party, which is one that seeks to divide our country on every single occasion and on every single issue along racial lines.”

Efforts To Undermine

The PNCR-led Coalition and elements aligned to it have been, for months, calling for the PPP/C Government to be undermined.

The first direct call was issued by David Hinds, in 2021, while he was addressing a small group of protestors at Victoria, East Coast Demerara. David Hinds, during that action, said: “In whatever way you can undermine this (PPP/C) government. Undermine this government in whatever way you can. I can’t tell you how to do it, but ‘hint to Baniba mek Quashiba tek notice’ (Old African-Guyanese proverb meaning actions to hint something will result in awareness). Undermine this government!”

The PNC-led APNU+AFC Coalition’s expressed intentions to “undermine” the Dr. Irfaan Ali-led PPP/C Administration, according to Jagdeo, in prior comments, has not gone unnoticed. Jagdeo, in prior comments, had said, “People like David Hinds, who for decades misled people into thinking they represent Afro-Guyanese, had no interest in development for Guyana, much less development in the interest of Afro-Guya - nese…they are parasitic… when they came into office, they had no intention of sup- porting Afro-Guyanese…he is smarting from the person loss of privileges that he and his family enjoyed…the bitterness stems from there.” Moving forward, Jagdeo noted that the APNU+AFC Coalition must drop racism as a tool and get on board with a national development agenda – all in the interest of all Guyanese across the entire country. “It is a dead end if they don’t drop the racism…there is room for inclusion, providing that you work for the people… you can’t bully people and you can’t lie to people…. currently, we have an ineffective Opposition Leader… more often than not, he has a shallow understanding of crucial sectors,” he stressed.

Inmodern day politics, the issue of trust is a quintessential one. Why is truthfulness important? How does untruthfulness impact the people of a nation? If leaders lose the trust of the people, do they not also lose their mandate?

While these questions are fodder for much heated debates, one fact is clear, politicians have an obligation to engender and maintain trust if their ambition is to lead.

The untruthfulness of the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition – Guyana’s Parliamentary Opposition – has touched everything from major developmental projects, currently underway, to a basic issue like where in the 610 constituencies that make up the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs), it is fielding candidates.

Unable to talk about comparative track records when it comes to development, the Parliamentary Opposition has taken to untruths in an effort to try to diminish the development being advanced under the PPP/C government.

The unconstrained resort to untruthfulness harken back to the spiel from the APNU+AFC Coalition during the five months after the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. The positions of the Coalition changed so often, it was hard to keep up.

For example: the Coalition on March 3, 2020 claimed it won the 2020 Elections. And in its dossier, on page 11, the Coalition said: “The various comments from the observer missions convey that the voting process in the elections was well managed, peaceful, proceeded largely without incident and was free, fair and transparent. It is therefore, reasonable to conclude then that the voting process was not fraudulent.” Also, by the time the recount was underway, the Coalition changed positions claiming that there were irregularities in the March 2020 Elections, the very election they claimed they had worn and was free, fair and transparent. They claimed that there were countless instances of dead persons being recorded as voting exclusively in PPP strongholds, among other things that were never proven. Further, by August 2, 2020 when the final election results were declared, the public trust in the APNU+AFC Coalition was badly damaged.

Instead of attempting to repair the damage, the Coalition persists on the same path – a disservice to their supporters and Guyanese at large. Why a disservice? Because, dangerously, the untruthful stance being maintained by the APNU+AFC Coalition is also the position of several personalities, including elements are GECOM now before the courts for public misconduct. And this impacts the move forward in terms of electoral and other necessary reforms to ensure that Guyana never had to experience the debacle it did after the March 2020 Elections.

Guyanese must demand and hold political leaders accountable wherever trust is broken.

Guyanese must recognise the patterns on unconstrained resorts to untruthfulness by some in the political arena. Guyanese must demand better if we are to move forward as a progressive and prosperous nation.

Power, not people, has always been the proven focus of the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition. And this endeavour has been plagued by racist rhetoric, bullyism and intimidation.

What is clear is that the PNCR-led Coalition has to be called for its actions. Democratic, right-minded Guyanese are not interested in being drawn backwards, but are focused on the progressive, prosperous future ahead. And self-interested leaders in the Coalition must not be allowed to endanger our collective prosperity.