Dear Editor,
My late friend Lionel Peters must be smiling in heaven that our comrade in political struggle Moses Nagamootoo has been sworn in as Prime Minister of Guyana. Moses and Khemraj Ramjattan paid tribute to Lio last year when he passed away for his enormous contributions to their political development. Lio always felt Moses was deserving of the highest elected positions of the land and he felt both Khemraj and Moses, like himself, had been unfairly treated by their former party. It is a pity Moses had to leave the PPP in order to be elected Prime Minister. Lio, like myself, felt that had Moses been the presidential or prime ministerial candidate in 2011, the PPP would have won. Mr Ramjattan, himself, admitted as much to me in the presence of Chris Ram in front of CN Sharma’s TV station, where I met them by coincidence after they discussed the outcome of the 2011 elections. Mr Ramjattan conceded to Chris Ram and myself that the AFC did well in 2011 because of Moses’s affiliation with the party. As many prominent people said, had Moses been chosen as the presidential candidate for either the PPP or the coalition for last week’s election, he would have won.
Moses and Lio had several common attributes, not the least being journalism and fighting for freedom. They were also confidantes and social buddies. Several times during my sojourns in Guyana, I socialized with them in their homes and at receptions.
They supported, collaborated, advocated for and defended one another during the toughest and best of times. They worked the ground together during the struggle for free and fair elections as few others did. But because of political and personal differences with their colleagues, the two of them were not given their rightful recognition for their contributions to the PPP (taking it into office) and to the country.
Had Lio been on earth now, he would have been celebrating Moses’s elevation to higher office − few are more deserving of that position.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
