The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) yesterday defended its Leader, President David Granger over his description in a US diplomatic cable of June 27, 1974, while a GDF Major, as an “anti-East Indian racist”.
In a statement in response to the publication of the contents of the cable in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek, the PNCR said that “Granger has dedicated his entire working life to public service and at all times a major pillar of his written works and his personal philosophy has been the pursuit of national unity.”
The PNCR, the major component of APNU, dismissed what it said was the “malicious publication” of the cable.
It said that viewed in the context of the Cold War, the cable’s accusation with no supporting evidence has no place in mainstream media.
It said that Granger has propounded on numerous occasions that national unity is an imperative in Guyana’s “current fragile political, social and economic circumstances”.
It said that as the Leader of a multi-party, multi-ethnic coalition Granger has travelled to all regions of the country “preaching the gospel of social cohesion and racial harmony”. It added that he is on record as saying that in a plural society like Guyana’s, “there is a clear choice between the uplifting benefits of cooperation and the downside of destructive political competition.”
The PNCR said that Granger’s personal life and his life works debunk the malicious claim.
The PNCR said it questioned the wisdom of the publication of this dated US Diplomatic Cable without a right of reply or any other supporting evidence.
It noted that it was Granger in his address to the PNCR’s 18th Biennial Delegates’ Congress on the 25th July 2014 who opined:
“The PNCR is convinced that greater national unity will bring greater national benefits including:
– elimination of one-party domination of the government;
– enhancement of local, municipal and parliamentary democracy;
– enlargement of multi-ethnic space and the elimination of ethnic insecurity;
– expansion of economic enterprise and development; and
– enrichment of cultural life, national consciousness and pride.”
The PNCR says it stands with Granger and will continue to work with him to build One Nation.
Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud defended the publication of the contents of the cable. He said the US diplomatic cables have been treated by the newspaper in the same manner as any historic document dealing with British Guiana/Guyana.
The US cable referred to Granger in the backdrop of the appointment of Norman McLean as the first head of the nascent Guyana National Service.
