The call by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) stalwart, Hamilton Green, for electoral rigging to oust “demons and bastards” from power, is being condemned by the country’s Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
Green found himself in hot water this week after news broke of him saying that if the party is or has been accused of rigging, then it must continue to do so to rid the country of demonic entities.
Green made the assertion during a ceremony to commemorate the 101st birth anniversary of PNCR’s founder and former Head of State, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. The former President and by extension, the PNCR has long been accused of elections rigging. As recent as 2020, the party faced criticism for its role in allegedly trying to manipulate elections results, with one of its high-level officials and several electoral officers before the courts.
Green, a former Prime Minister, told attendees, “If they say he (Burnham) rigged elections, I say we should keep rigging to save us from these devils, these bastards, these demons that we have.”
This “outrageous” statement, Jagdeo argues, only proves that the PNCR’s “rigging philosophy is alive and well”.
PNCR Leader, Aubrey Norton, when asked to comment on Green’s comments, rushed to the 89-year-old’s defense, saying that the former Georgetown Mayor was taken out of context.
He said that Green’s comment was predicated on conditionality and that the media left out the word “if”.
“Well, when I pay attention to a statement, I try to pay careful attention to the details…They (press) would have left out ‘if’. And so, they changed the context. I think what Green was saying was: you’re saying we are rigging [so) if we are rigging, then we should rig to change the government. The point I’m making here is that the context was changed,” Norton said.
But Jagdeo scoffed at Norton’s comment, saying that the PNCR Leader was defending Green.
“If you thought that was just an aberration – an outlier statement, it is not so. Its core PNC value. Because at today’s press conference they doubled down on it and tried to excuse it,” Jagdeo said.
The General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), said that had the comment come from one of his party members, the entire country and civil society would be up in arms. He went on to accuse civil society and the press of always giving the PNCR a “free pass”.
“This is a major bit of news, and it just went out the window because it’s done by the PNC. They always get a free pass on their failed economic policy, their failed projects, the massive corruptions that they engage in, their lack of vision, their outrageous statements and their racism.
“They always get a free pass in this country from media and from civil society. A free pass! It’s a serious matter. Here is a former prime minister saying: we should continue to rig to stay in power.”
Jagdeo said that Green’s comment is an “acceptance” that the PNCR has been rigging elections, but worse yet, has no qualms about doing it.
The VP said that he is hoping that more persons speak out against Green.
“Don’t treat this statement by Hamilton Green as passing – a passing reference to what happened in yesteryear. This is core PNC philosophy. Today, it’s alive and well in the PNC. It’s part of their DNA.”
