Dear Editor
As one who took issue with President Granger’s initial comments on the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry Report, I feel obligated to commend the President for his most recent comments which to my mind are more in keeping with his stature and that of the office he holds. As a reminder, I felt his comments last week were clearly partisan and as such were out of place for the Head of State and Government especially since he is heading a multi-party government.
His recent remarks on the report were much more measured and less partisan. I am glad that the President has indicated that the report would be released and that all the political parties including the one he heads, the PNC, would have their partisan say. He should also be commended for promising to go one step further and lay the report before the parliament. For me, the president has quietly and in a dignified manner corrected last week’s comments.
Many of my fellow Granger-supporters roasted me for taking issue with the President. I respect their view, but I refuse to be part of a political culture in which the president cannot be criticized—that is where the personality cult becomes frightening and eventually leads to ‘one-manism.’ My reaction was not to Mr Granger the person, but to the principle of keeping the presidency above intense partisan debates.
In the meantime, I welcome the imminent release of the report and hope that its publication and the possible debate around it balances our respective partisan responses with the need for the country to heal and move on. In the end Rodney, Burnham, the PNC and WPA are all products of our Guyana. I will stand against any effort to transform any one of them into an alien.
Yours faithfully,
David Hinds
