Aubrey Norton must be channelling Henry II and muttering, “Will no one rid me of this Sanctimonious Gangster Granger?” Here it is…denied a shot at the top rung for more than two decades by a series of PNC leaders like Hoyte, Corbin and the selfsame Granger – but now elected leader in the first free and fair election in the history of the PNC, he’s still not allowed to sit at the head table?? What the he**!!
And it’s Granger that he has to budge…not Harmon, who doesn’t show any sign of going quietly into the night. Norton might’ve counted his eggs a bit too soon when he expatiated before the PNC elections as to what changes he’d be making in the PNC leadership WHEN he became leader!! Harmon would’ve fumed that he didn’t give up his American citizenship to become Norton’s water boy! Whether Norton defeated him in the race or not, Harmon’s the Opposition Leader of Guyana – a constitutional position that makes him the President-in-waiting!!
Notice how he asserted his “power” by refusing to meet Commonwealth S.G Baroness Scotland?? He sent his surrogate Roysdale Forde.
Apparently, he hasn’t forgotten the Baroness’s representative – ex-Barbados PM Owen Arthur – bitch-slapping him when he (Harmon) had discounted the pronouncements of PM Gonsalves on our elections’ recount. Owen said Harmon “is a mere utensil”, and “cannot be allowed to indulge his appetite to be attacking leaders.” Ouch!! He continued his reprimand by demanding, “President David Granger should let Harmon know his place if they hope to have goodwill with the people of the Caribbean”!
Anyhow, back to Norton’s woes to get his inheritance. Even if he were to lead a parliamentary putsch against the latter by strong-arming 50% of the 31 Opposition MPs (16??) to remove him as Opposition Leader – he still has to convince Representative of the List (RAAL) Granger to appoint HIM to the vacancy!! Back to square one!! He can’t very well tell Granger and Harmon that they’re holding on to positions of authority without that authority conferred by the will of the people. Their hero Burnham had gone one even better: he’d ruled all of Guyana without a mandate for two decades!!
So, Norton better learn what Burnham knew – folks who matter don’t read the fine print about votes and suchlike!! That Harmon’s the Opposition Leader and Granger’s the RAAL is enough for them!!
But maybe he can quote Owen Arthur, “I know a lot of Opposition parties, when they lose or anybody who loses, they say, ‘Oh, so and so thief.’ It’s almost a boring repetition; we get the reports, follow the law and who wins wins.”
…of the pigs?
In Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, the pigs took over from the humans and start running the farm themselves. Pretty soon, they start behaving like humans: a dictatorship is formed where “some pigs are more equal than other pigs”!! Like the Burnham dictatorship, right?!
Remember when ice apple and grapes were flown in for the big boys while it was banned for the “small man, who was the real man”? Burnham died having his last wish fulfilled: eating his beloved (but banned) condensed milk!!
Anyhow, seems like Orwell was quite prescient about the interchangeability of man and pigs in more ways that Michels “Iron Law of Oligarchy” reaching its denoument in dictatorships suggested. Did you, dear reader, read about the transplantation of a pig’s heart into a man – xenotransplantation – was achieved in the USA? Well, it did take some genetic engineering on the pig to help with its heart not being rejected by the man’s immune system. But yet…hmmm!
So, if you put lipstick on some humans, they still remain pigs at heart!?
…against sneaky Trinis
Your Eyewitness is all for Caribbean solidarity. But after kicking us in the teeth for decades when they were oil rich – rejecting partnerships in agriculture – we can’t have the Trinis bullying us on local content to kick-start our development!!
Gwan da side!
