The ruling APNU+AFC coalition has still not communicated its decision on candidate Winston Harding, who won a seat on the Georgetown council despite its withdrawal of support for his candidacy over allegations of child molestation and his sister says he should quit.
Harding cannot legally be removed from the council unless he is convicted of a crime or chooses to resign. President David Granger had told reporters on Saturday that Harding’s possible recall will have to be discussed at the party level and Harding told this newspaper on Sunday that he will abide by whatever decision is made by the coalition.
Stabroek News reported last week Wednesday that Harding, who was then a candidate for the coalition, had been previously charged for indecent assault of a minor on more than one occasion and was presently facing similar accusations.
On the day the story was published, the coalition issued a press release disassociating itself from Harding. The candidate, however, remained on the ballot and went on to win a seat in the council by a landslide.
Meanwhile Sharon Harding, the sister of Winston Harding, who provided this newspaper with details of the allegations against her brother, believes that he should resign.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday, Harding said she is convinced that it was the coalition and not her brother who won the council seat in constituency 13 (East and West Ruimveldt). “Persons were just voting for the palm and the key. It was not him who won that seat and in all good conscience he should resign,” she said.
Calls have also been made for the resignation of Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence, who was responsible for the coalition’s Georgetown campaign and Winston Harding’s inclusion as a candidate.
When approached by this newspaper last week, Lawrence had described the allegations against Harding as a family matter.
“This is a family issue that has been going on and on and on and on for whatever reason, I can’t tell you, because if I had a brother, even if there was an accusation, this is not how I would go about helping him,” she told this newspaper.
Lawrence’s comments incensed local NGO Red Thread, which, with support for ChildLink, Help and Shelter, the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) and Forward Guyana, has so far staged two protests demanding that the president remove Lawrence from the ministry.
Speaking with Stabroek News on Tuesday at a protest in front of the Ministry of the Presidency, head of Red Thread Karen de Souza said that Lawrence “has clarified that she is unsuitable for this position, she can’t deal with child protection and it is now for the government to recognise this clarification, as I have, and reassign her.”
Sharon Harding, who was present at that protest, is not so interested in the minister’s resignation. Her focus is on securing justice for the children her brother has been accused of abusing.
She wants the minister to “make things right” by first publicly apologising for her comments and then ensuring that a thorough investigation is conducted into the 2012 accusation against her brother.
Harding’s position is similar to that of Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who told a press conference yesterday that if the minister was aware of the accusations and charges which Harding had faced, then “she clearly has abdicated her responsibilities to the child.”
“She chose a political person in front of a child at a time when she has not just ordinary responsibility but statutory, political and administrative responsibility for that ministry and to protect the interest of the child,” Jagdeo said when asked to comment on the situation.
He, however, would not support a call for Lawrence’s resignation, saying it was a matter for the president.
“I’m not one who willy-nilly calls for the resignation of ministers. If she has expressed contrition, if she has said ‘I was wrong, I’m sorry, those comments were unfortunate and I commit to have a full investigation of this matter and we are going to bring the full force of the law on this person’s head,’ then she should be allowed to do so,” Jagdeo said.
