Dear Editor,
The attempts by some members of the PNC executive to tarnish the character and attempt to oust former President David Granger from the party is something that cannot go unnoticed, for it is the act of sheer evil rooted in wickedness and deceit.
Editor, since August 2020 I have seen a consistent attempt by many to publicly attack President Granger. I am not usually one to write letters but it was shocking to note that instead of the usual well wishes that would greet us all on social media when it’s our birthday, on Mr.Granger’s birthday he was greeted by a distasteful letter speaking about his “character” and then an online programme where everyone sought to malign him even further.
While I am a supporter of the coalition I am not a member of any party and I believe that the coalition is what Guyana needs. I believe former president Granger is a man of integrity and honesty and it is for that reason I am penning this letter to confront the evil that I believe lies within the PNC.
I believe that this attack on Mr. Granger has nothing to do with poor leadership but more so his stance against those in the PNC who assisted in leading him down a dangerous path during the 2020 elections.
Let us examine what exactly transpired during that time, which I believe is the reason for the PNC’s current status quo.
Based on the information that has been in the public domain it was clear that Volda Lawrence was in charge of managing Georgetown for the elections while Basil Williams was in charge of the East Coast. These two PNC “stalwarts’” inability to manage an elections campaign led to the coalition doing worse in a Region that they have consistently won by large margins. While overall the coalition won Region 4, the PPP was able to reduce the gap they would usually win by in the region. No one has even asked how Basil, who was in charge of Region 4 ECD allowed 49 ballot boxes to not have the information that is required. It is my view that the mishandling of region 4 by those who were in charge of the Region must take some amount of responsibility for why we are where we are.
I believe that President Granger was lied to during the declaration process by his own people hence a lot of the decisions he made did not sit well with many and in some instances was contradictory. I believe he was told the Coalition won the elections but however with all of the craziness that was going on he wanted the results to be declared in the most credible manner, hence his actions. As I said in the beginning, I believe Mr. Granger to be a man of Integrity and honesty and had he been made aware of the true results we would not have had to endure what we did in 2020.
My belief is that Ms. Lawrence and her team tried to cover up their Region 4 failure while suggesting to Mr. Granger that the coalition won the elections, I do not believe it is by coincidence that Ms. Lawrence hurriedly signed what appeared to be a doctored tabulation/declaration of region 4 and couldn’t produce her party’s copies of the SOPs. I do not believe it was by coincidence that President Granger signed off on a recount order in an unusual manner and against the wishes of those challenging him now. I believe that he suspected that something was afoot and he wanted to ensure that if he was declared President it must be based on credible results. Which is what he was saying all along.
After the recount I believe that President Granger got a clear understanding of what was going on in his camp, but he was also faced with what was obviously an orchestrated plan by the PPP to ensure election victory and so his members then chose to mount a fight for valid votes only.
I do believe that after all that was exposed President Granger had developed trust issues with many in his rank as any honest and decent person would, and he realized that he had some serious decisions to make, hence the makeup of the current opposition MPs in Parliament and the sidelining of many.
Ask yourself this question, is it that only now some PNC executive members know of and experienced Mr. Granger’s leadership style? Why didn’t they oppose him running for a second term? My belief is that the issues came up after the elections based on his decisions not to go down the path some of his own PNC members wanted him to go and that is the very reason for the attacks on his leadership and character.
They have managed to get members of the public to agree with them because Ms. Lawrence and her team misled their supporters about winning the elections and then laid the eventual loss at the feet of Mr. Granger and his inability to fight against the purported enemy the PPP and those from the west, when he also had to contend with the enemies within his own party. Why would Mr. Granger let go of the reins of power as President to fight his own party comrades. There must be more in the mortar than the pestle.
The PNC executive is riddled with wicked and deceitful people and Mr. Granger is certainly not one of them, I wish he would come publicly with the truth of the matter and defend his good name against those that seek power for self preservation.
Yours respectfully
Andre Belgrave
