On the very day that acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Priya Manickchand delivered her “feral blast” at former US ambassador Brent Hardt, the ruling PPP set the tone when it issued a statement calling Hardt an “interloper” in the domestic politics of Guyana.
In a statement on July 2, the PPP referred to an address by Hardt at a function hosted by the Blue CAPS’ non-governmental organisation. The PPP accused Hardt – who has since left the country, his tenure having come to an end – of displaying “his proclivity for petty, partisan and unadulterated anti-government politicking.” According to the statement, at the Blue CAPS function, Hardt launched into a “barrage of undiplomatic tirades,” while mockingly referring to statements emanating from the PPP in respect of the holding of Local Government elections in Guyana.
“Mr. Hardt remarks were most regrettable to say the least. He unreservedly used the Blue CAPS forum to stir up controversy and level political invective against the General Secretary of People’s Progressive Party. In this way, he has exposed to the Guyanese public the hidden political agenda of the Blue CAPS organisation by unfrocking it as a handmaiden set up to accomplish clear political objectives,” the PPP said.
The party said that businessman Clinton Urling has been trying his best to convince many that Blue CAPS has no political agenda but Hardt “has declared to the contrary and in fact has laid bare what Urling was trying so hard to conceal.” The PPP said that Urling is now saddled with the herculean task of repairing the damage which Hardt has inflicted on the fledgling Blue CAPS outfit.
“It is to be regretted that the outgoing US Ambassador rather than focusing on economic diplomacy and promoting Guyana as a country to which US business entities should invest, preferred to meddle in the internal political affairs of a sovereign country,” the party said. “Breaching all diplomatic protocols, Mr. Hardt launches a barrage of anti-government farewell salvos towards the Office of the President and Freedom House, headquarters of the People’s Progressive Party. He even goes so far as to evoke the revered name of Cheddi Jagan to suit his political posturing and gaffe in respect to democracy and elections in Guyana,” it added.
According to the PPP, Hardt in a most undiplomatic manner lectured a duly elected President namely President Donald Ramotar about what he should do and should not do, “speaking presumptuously from the rank of Ambassador to Head of State.”
The party said that even a Head of State of another sovereign state would be hard pressed to intrude in a fellow colleague’s domestic political agenda as Hardt brazenly did, “totally abandoning” all pretenses at conventional diplomatic practices. “In this manner, it is indeed sad to observe how Mr. Hardt threw diplomatic protocol out of the window and downgraded himself to the level of an interloper in the domestic politics of Guyana,” the PPP said.
“As Mr. Hardt bids farewell to our beautiful and hospitable country Guyana, we sincerely hope that he will mend his ways wherever he may be posted in pursuit of his future endeavours,” the statement added.
Later that evening, Manickchand at a reception at the ambassador’s residence, launched verbal salvoes at her host over his criticisms of government officials over long awaited local government elections. Her statements came in wake of the ambassador’s recent public criticism of the excuses given by the Ramotar administration and the president himself for not holding local government elections. She was jeered and booed during her remarks at the reception to mark the United States’ 238th independence anniversary as well as Hardt’s farewell.
The administration defended the verbal attack and Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon hailed Manickchand’s “feral and fitting blast” to Hardt.
Manickchand has since said, in a programme on NCN, that the attack was a “personal attack” on Hardt. “This is about a person who holds himself out and who has been sent to represent the United States and I think that person understands that it’s about him,” she said. “It was a repudiation of the behaviour of this individual over the last three years particularly over the last year and a half.”
She has been criticized by many including former diplomats for her remarks but she has also said that many have congratulated her.
