General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Amna Ally yesterday said that the party endorses President David Granger to run for a second term.
“Despite the rumours and orchestrated approach to filter untruths whether they are on his health or competence, I on behalf of the PNCR would like to indicate that he is ‘fit and proppa’ for a second term and the PNCR endorses his candidature,” Ally said in a letter to this newspaper. (See page 6.)
“We look forward to [being] under his guidance for a second term,” she added.
Ally’s pronouncement comes weeks after Minister of State Joseph Harmon, a PNCR Executive member, dismissed the suggestion circulating in the public that Granger may not be the APNU+AFC presidential candidate due to questions about his ability to campaign in the run up to possible general elections later this year given that he is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.
The PNCR is the largest constituent of coalition partner APNU.
Since the passage of the December 21st no-confidence motion against government, which could see general elections sooner than anticipated, the other party that makes up the governing APNU+AFC coalition, the AFC, has not publicly said whether it will support Granger running for president again.
At a press conference last week, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said while the party is prepared to contest as part of a coalition, it was too early to determine if it will support Granger for a second term.
The passage of the motion resulted in the opposition PPP fast-tracking the process to select a presidential candidate. Following a vote by secret ballot and the withdrawal of three of the five candidates, former Housing Minister Irfaan Ali was elected last Saturday by the party’s Central Committee.
In her letter, Ally noted that Granger was elected unopposed as leader of the PNCR at its August, 2018 Biennial Congress and that the party is fully aware of his competence, his principles, and his vision for Guyana. Additionally, she said the party is cognisant of his discipline and that in no way could he be deemed as a “corrupt leader.”
According to Ally, Granger possesses the necessary qualities that are required to be a country’s leader and he has constantly been active in cleaning up the “twenty-three years of mess which did put our country in a state of total despair.”
Further, she said that the president has been tried for the past three and a half years and has also proven his competence to lead Guyana for a second term and she urged Guyanese to vote for “vision, development, cordiality, selfless work” and to” enjoy the good life promised you by the coalition.”
Granger, 73, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a type of cancer in November last year following a medical investigation in Cuba.
On November 14, the Guyana Embassy in Havana disclosed the diagnosis and said that he had undergone surgery and started a second phase of treatment earlier that day.
On November 19, it was disclosed that the president had completed a first round of chemotherapy and had been given permission by his doctors to travel home the following day.
On December 4th, the Ministry of the Presidency had announced Granger’s departure for Cuba for a second round of treatment at the Centro de Investigaciones Médico Quirúrgicas . It had also said that the the next five cycles of chemotherapy would go all the way up to May this year.
It appears that the rounds of chemotherapy have been accelerated.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is a cancer that originates in the lymphatic system, the disease-fighting network spread throughout the body. In Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, tumours develop from lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell.
It says that “Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more common than the other general type of lymphoma — Hodgkin lymphoma” and that many different subtypes of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma exist.
According to doctors, age is a huge risk factor in developing the cancer as persons over 60-years-old are at an increased risk but medical research has indicated that there have been “significant “advances” in diagnosis and treatment, which have helped improve the prognosis for people with this disease.
To date, it is unclear what stage of cancer the president has.
Observers have also questioned whether the president will be able to serve out a five- year term if he wins given his health issues.
Harmon, when contacted on December 26th, had said that Granger is an excellent presidential candidate.
He reminded that prior to his departure for Cuba, Granger chaired meetings of Cabinet and the National Security Committee (NSC).
“He’s getting much better. I figure that by the time he gets back here, he will be in a position to resume his meetings,” he said. Between then and his most recent visit, the president has held a number of meetings, including one with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on the no-confidence motion and a number of engagements.
The Guyana Embassy in Cuba has said that the president is expected to make a full recovery.
