Dear Editor,
In an effort to cushion the impact of the public ridicule for the unilateral and unprincipled decision of suspending Member of Parliament Ms Vanessa Kissoon, the PNCR now has two public positions on this fiasco. First it was the Leader acting on “credible evidence” as it related to the exchange between the General Secretary and Ms Kissoon, and the use of a so-called constitutional provision to suspend her. When it became clear that his decision could not stand the test of public scrutiny and flew in the face of natural justice the party in a press release attempted to fuse a series of unrelated events to justify the Leader’s action. Even in the case of this failed attempt at public relations not one iota of evidence was presented indicating that Ms Kissoon was and is in possession of the keys to the office.
What was clear in the party’s latest bid to save face was that despite the resistance from members in the region to the imposition of a coordinator without meaningful consultation, there are still members of the party’s central leadership seeking to circumvent the will of the members, internal party democracy and the stability of a critical constituency of the party.
The office which is the subject of this controversy and the party infrastructure under its remit was dysfunctional for years; during this period there were no attempts to wrestle this from the previous leaders. Now, while a concerted effort is in place to mobilize the party, reinforce its institutional capacity and prepare it for any ensuing political action by a group of young proactive leaders, efforts are in motion to dislodge this.
Therefore the only inference that can be drawn from this continuing saga is that Ms Kissoon finds herself among a group of young leaders who are rising in popularity and their political work is exposing the incompetence of their colleagues at the highest level, therefore every effort is being made to restrict them. However, unlike the other members of this rising star group, Ms Kissoon is vulnerable, not only because she is a woman, but because her political nemeses have at their disposal the recall legislation as a tool to intimidate her and are building a case to use it.
However, respected and successful leaders are not those who find and use unorthodox methods with which to outmanoeuvre their opponents, but those who stand for, believe in and subscribe to fundamental principles. Therefore Ms Kissoon’s fight is one of principle and surrendering is not an option. In time she will be exonerated; she has age and her constituency on her side.
Yours faithfully,
Bevon Currie
