Former President, David Granger is still the Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and should convince his party and supporters that they have lost the March 2 General and Regional Elections and to take its place at the “legitimate majority opposition”. At least, this is the opinion expressed by a former PNCR Minister, Kit Nascimento.
In a recent letter to the editor, the public information consultant took umbrage to Granger seemingly taking a backseat since his departure from office, and the subsequent appointment of former State Minister, Joseph Harmon as Opposition Leader.
Nascimento said that the PNCR, the largest party within the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), commands a significant portion of the country’s vote, and therefore has leverage to decide which path the partnership should take. That path, Nascimento opines, should be one that allows the party to voice their views, influence the laws being passed, and to hold the government accountable for its actions.
“That, however, is not what Mr. Harmon and the belligerent group around him represent nor where they are coming from. Harmon has continuously embraced the language of confrontation. He has no intention of reaching across the aisle. He is persistent in calling the government illegal, but in the same breath, demands that the President recognise him as Leader of the Opposition. He prefers to keep his elected members in the street rather than in the Parliament where they properly belong,” Nascimento said.
He added that Harmon and “the group” around him are “wedded to the falsehood that APNU+AFC won the elections, are determined to mislead their party supporters to this end but, unwilling, because they are unable to provide any evidence, including the disclosure of the Statements of Poll in their own possession, to prove their contention”.
“It is time for Granger to come out of hiding. It is time now for Granger to get rid of Harmon. It is time for Granger to let his party know, a party which I once supported, though in different times and in different circumstances, that it is time to come out of the shadows, face up to the reality that they are the legitimate majority opposition party, that it is possible and prudent to reach across the aisle and put President Ali’s commitment to inclusion to the test and hold him to the promise of giving meaning to his call for “one Guyana”, work with the government to reform and reorganise the Elections Commission and revisit the Constitution and, yes, when the time comes, contest the elections again,” he concluded.
The APNU+AFC currently has an elections petition before the court contesting the results of those elections.
