April 16 ,2021
DEAR EDITOR,
I just read Freddie Kissoon’s column which responded to my column in last weekend’s edition of Village Voice. Thanks, Freddie, for reminding Guyanese that I still write—I doubt your publication would have published the original version. I had Freddie in mind as I was writing the column, partly because I still love him — the culture from which I come teaches love, not betrayal. He has to explain why he ended our friendship over political disagreement. Is there something deep that Freddie did that prevents him from facing his very dear “iconic” friend? What’s on your conscience Freddie? Don’t give us your nonsense about rigged elections. President Romotar said the Americans aided rigged elections in 2015. But you never became a shameless defender of the slogan then. Freddie must say why he cannot face his many friends from the days when he was an anti-Burnham revolutionary. Is his revolutionary instincts only reserved for some “lower” ones.
Now to the meat of the matter. I also wrote the column with Freddie in mind partly because I wanted him to answer the question he asked me in the title of his column. Freddie is good at many things, but he is bad at reading between the lines. So, he walked right into the not-so-subtle trap I set for him. He couldn’t resist. In all fairness, Freddie is not a lunatic, a racist or a liar. He is a Simon-pure human being supremely concerned with justice, freedom, democracy and electoral integrity. He is blessed with the ability to see what is deep in the minds of other human beings, especially the darkest ones. He does not traffic in character assassination. In fact, he hardly calls names in his columns—he sticks to analysis. Political gossip is not his thing. He only calls names when it is absolutely necessary.
Freddie also knows his way around town. So, we have to believe him when he tells us that political bribery came from two sources during the election—the PPP and the business class which supports the party. In a previous column Freddie revealed that a newspaper publisher had told him to collect some money which he had not picked up at the time of writing. He did not say what the money was for. He also revealed that a certain president offered him a job (March 21, 2021).
Now Simon-pure Freddie should tell us whether he was offered compensation from the PPP and/or the supporting business class for his brilliant and unconditional support for “Regime Change.” Further, does Freddie know of anyone in the media, or in public life or a columnist who during the election impasse was offered bribes or benefited from bribes from those two sources he cited?
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