Six executive members of The New Movement (TNM) have resigned from the party following what they described as attempts to use the fledgling political movement for private gain.
Those who have tendered their resignations include Prime Ministerial Candidate and Representative of the list, Gerald Forde and Party Secretary Dr Josh Kanhai.
TNM is part of the novel three-party list joinder from the March 2nd general elections and will have the opportunity to occupy a seat in the 12th Parliament for 80 days. TNM was one of the small parties which had high visibility during the five-month election crisis.
In a letter to the party, Forde said that TNM “has become inept.”
“This is largely due to faction formation, character (assassination) within the leadership of the movement [and the practice of] undemocratic principles by Dr. [Asha] Kissoon and [Turhane] Doerga,” he explained.
Specifically the letter accused the Presidential Candidate and party financier of “mixing private and selfish interest with national politics” in the form of GuyEnergy- an oil and gas company created by Doerga of which Kissoon has been made a director.
Kissoon meanwhile has denied the accusations levelled against her.
“GuyEnergy is a completely separate entity to TNM. Forde is bitter that he was not invited to be a part of GuyEnergy and quite frankly that’s his problem… The issues that led to their resignations are normal internal issues faced by any political party and if he can’t handle these internal issues then he can’t lead a country….TNM will move on,” she told Stabroek News.
Kanhai when contacted, told Stabroek News that the executive had actually voted to suspend the Presidential Candidate from the party but found themselves facing suspension when Kissoon and Doerga took control.
“Last night the members met and six execs including myself have decided to resign. We have noted attempts to besmirch the character of members and found these actions too malicious to countenance. Members have also been threatened with legal action so we felt it would be better to resign,” he explained.
Another executive Andrew Hutson stressed that numerous attempts have been made to reach a compromise with Kissoon but even when she apologized for her actions she continued to repeat them.
“In the past the precedent set by the executive is to vote to remove members for misconduct…Over the past couple months her actions have caused division in the party. The majority could not work with her so the executive made a decision a few weeks ago to suspend her but Dr Doerga has used his position as financier and trustee to take control and threatened litigation so we walked away,” a fourth member explained.
Divide and conquer
Specifically, Kissoon has been accused of attempting to lead a campaign of divide and conquer by spreading lies about party members to other executives.
Forde, meanwhile has also claimed that some leaders of the political party have aligned too closely to the People’s Progres-sive Party/Civic post-elections and thereby corrupted the internal politics of the party.
Members, he claimed, have lost the ability to think and act critically and independently for fear of souring their relationships.
The issue at the root of this claim appears to be the protest action embarked on by frontline health workers.
TNM which has been characterized as a party of “doctors” was asked by Forde to take a position in support of their colleagues who were calling for better working conditions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Kissoon she felt that his request originated from “PNC interference”.
“We do not have proof but some of the motions he would put forward and more especially when it came to protest from doctors and the Black Lives Matters (BLM) movement were suspect,” she stated while claiming that “everybody in the party had voted against” becoming involved in these issues.
“He specifically asked for us to support the protest action but I believe it should’ve been resolved by dialogue which is what eventually happened. It should’ve never gotten to the level of protest and possible violence. Patients were suffering. This was uncalled for,” she maintained, adding that when it came to the BLM movement she believed that “all lives matter”.
“The BLM originated in the US where there is racial injustice from police against members of the black community but in Guyana it is the total opposite. Most of our members of the armed forces are of African descent so I believe that that problem specifically was for the US and was used politically in Guyana motivated by a certain party,” Kissoon claimed.
Each of the four executives who spoke with Stabroek News disputed this claim.
Dr Forde they maintained has always been an advocate for workers’ rights which is why he was selected as a union representative by his colleagues at the Georgetown Public Hospital. His positions and motions have they maintained been consistent with his years long advocacy.
Additionally they maintain that he has always accepted the party vote even if it went against his expressed position.
“It is embarrassing to hear her accusations when there is no evidence. Many times she acts because she feels something has happened and this leads to character assassinations. When she speaks as TNM she is not expressing our views,” the executive maintained adding that because of the issues surrounding Kissoon the party has not even had a chance to vote on the motions tabled by Forde.
