Dear Editor,
I am probably Tim Jonas’s biggest fan. (Not kidding, I love the guy, we should be selling Jonas T-shirts! And God willing, come next election, raising enough funds for Tim’s Presidential run). I will disagree slightly with Tim though (only slightly, after all I do not want to be Moseleyed or broadsided) after his May 22nd press conference outside of the CARICOM headquarters.
I argue with two statements of Tim’s. I begin with the first, and I quote, “President Granger is a patriot.” And the second, I paraphrase, ANUG has a power sharing formula, which would see the allocation of shared seats for ministerial responsibilities with rotating leadership.
My disagreement with the first. I do not deny, that at some time in Mr. Granger’s life and presidency, he might have been a patriot. After all, he served in the military, and chose a life of public service, all attributes we agree, of a patriot. But his conduct post-NO confidence motion and the elections Riggery, (yes, these jokers have allowed us to add new words to the Guyanese dictionary) resemble a despot. I will save space and time with my argument, since there are many more compelling voices than mine, including Freddie Kissoon and most recently, Kit Nascimento’s letter, `Let Granger sue me’, (Guyana Times May 25th 2020), which I echo verbatim.
We must not and will not be fooled by the soft-spoken Mr. Granger, who appears grandfatherly while preaching moral decency. As the saying goes, if it walks and quacks like a duck…we cannot call it a fowl cock.
My second disagreement (oww boy Tim, don’t lash me) is the power sharing model which Tim briefly explained. (I say briefly, because I am confident it has many more layers and intricacies which were not mentioned). Power sharing is a Nobel (purposely misspelt) discussion, especially in our fragmented morass. But it is a discussion only, and one to be had with partners who are NOT trying to choke and rob us while raising the dead. To ask of us, fighting this crass vulgarity, to entertain any such, requires much more reconciliation, and truth.
I end by thanking Tim Jonas and the countless others, the Yearwoods, Shuman, Josh, Kian, Defrance, Lam, Bryan Max, Freddie Kissoon, the Guyanese Critic, Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, our young, growing and responsible media and the many, many others, behind the scenes (that’s what happens when we start calling names…good people get left out!) who have so valiantly resisted. Thank you, thank you. May God richly bless and fortify you, your families, and our Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Ram
