The PNC seem determined to keep the PPP in Government for the next decade or two. Not that they actually WANT this outcome, but their actions – which are all deliberate – will clearly DELIVER that outcome. And in law, your Eyewitness understands, this is the very definition of “intent”: to perform an action even when MOTIVE is absent!! And one is responsible for action when there’s the requisite intent!!
It all began with the man who’s now saddled with the “false” name “Sanctimonious Gangster”, when he was drafted by PNC Leader Corbin to take over. They told him the image of the PNC was too “thuggish”, and needed to be remade as “kinder and gentler”! Up to then, the fella was enjoying his retirement from being an ex-general in the army, and was producing a monthly magazine that gave him an outlet for his post-Army historian and journalistic training. He was also a regular churchgoer. Okay…Okay… if that made him an “armchair” general, so be it!! But he wasn’t bothering anybody, was he?
So, he came aboard for the good of the PNC – and because he owed his career to Burnham, who’d sent him off to army school in England fresh from A-Levels at Queen’s. He was an unabashed Burnhamite, and – as he soon confessed – had joined the PNC the moment he returned in 1965. Point of the matter is he then acted in the highest tradition of Burnham and the PNC when he consulted nobody and made decisions on his lonesome! Including refusing to accept the clear dictate of the constitution to resign following an NCM! The PNC base loved him!! He was the best thing since bake and saltfish!!
Same when he tried to rig the elections (a la Burnham) via the Mingo Machinations! But when he suggested a Caricom-vetted recount, how was he to know that the leaders wouldn’t support him? Hadn’t they supported Burnham for decades doing the same dirty deed? But when Mia Mottley and company were forced to concede the elections, they viciously turned on him. He was called a coward, inept, a poor strategist, and worse.
So, with the US and UK standing behind Mia, how dare he “accept the things he couldn’t change”?!!? The second tier of the PNC and some extremists from outside – who saw their opportunity to get their hands on the oil money slip away – turned on him like hyenas! It was downright ugly!! Through it all, Granger has kept his cool. But your Eyewitness knows that hell hath no fury like a general scorned. He retains the trump card.
Revenge is best served cold. Grab your popcorn and watch the show unfold!!
…from the senior brigade
Now, the Budget has lots of goodies for most folks, but it was heavily focused on strategically providing infrastructure for business expansion, to increase jobs. That’s for young people!! From your (diligent) Eyewitness’s survey of the letters’ column – and more so social media – there’s one demographic that feels very, very slighted: the over-65 brigade collecting “old-age pension” (OAP).
The PNC had increased the OAP between 2015 and 2016 from $13,125 to $18,200 – a $5000 increase of 38%!! By the time they were ousted, pensions had reached $20,500 – another $2,300, or 11%!! Now the increase for this most vulnerable group by the PPP in Jan 2021 was a decent $4500 to $25,000 – 22%. But in THIS budget, it’s a measly $3000, or 12%!! Surely, the Government could’ve done better. What can these folks buy with $3000 – especially with the extraordinary rise in food prices??
Even at a political level, the Govt shouldn’t take the 60,000 pensioners for granted. They’re a critical swing vote when there’s only a 2-seat margin!!
…among prisoners
At long last, there’s some focus on rehabilitating prisoners in the Budget. In an undoubtedly growing economy, we need all hands on deck.
We can’t ignore those who might’ve fallen into criminal behaviour because of no job opportunities.
