Former Opposition MP speaks out on abuse suffered in party – Describes Granger as an ineffective leader
FORMER People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Parliamentarian Africo Selman is calling on Guyanese to choose wisely come May 11, 2015. She said that persons should not be made to feel guilty because they chose to associate with a different party, but that they should vote on issues considering what the parties have to offer and their track record. She shared this opinion in an interview aired on radio on the weekend programme, ‘Hard Talk’ hosted by Christopher Chapwanya.
The hour-long programme saw Selman discussing her time as a member of the National Assembly on the Opposition bench. She claimed to have been introduced to politics by PNC stalwart Aubrey Norton while attending the University of Guyana. She further revealed that following the 2006 elections she became a Parliamentarian, a position she retained following the 2011 elections. However, she resigned one day before the end of the life of the tenth Parliament, citing abuses by the Opposition Chief Whip and inaction by party leaders to stop the abuse as her reasons.
She described the attitude of the leaders of the PNC in the tenth Parliament which she said was quite different from the previous Parliament. Reminded by the host that the party in parliament is the APNU, Selman explained that the APNU and the PNC are one and the same and is seen as such by the leadership which is “the same old players from the PNC.”
MEME CHOSE
She told the host, “They do not only control most of the support, as they say, but their actions should tell you that the PNC and APNU are the same. Mr Granger became the leader of the PNC and the APNU and that should tell you they are the same.”
The actions of the leaders as described by Ally is reminiscent of the PNC when it was in power. The attitude observed by this young Guyanese Member of Parliament caused her to caution that there is a high possibility that the alliance which was recently formed with the Alliance For Change (AFC) will fall apart as the UF/PNC did in the 1960’s as she said that members of the other parties in the APNU were routinely sidelined by senior members of the APNU. She opinioned that the AFC members may not be as passive as the members of the WPA and other parties which joined up the APNU in 2011and this may cause friction.
Recalling her time with the party, and what led to her resignation, Selman chronicled a list of incidents. She recognised that she was encountering difficulties when even though she was the shadow minister of Foreign Affairs, she was not selected to be in the shadow cabinet. She said that she resigned because she came to realise that her views were not being considered and the abuse meted out to her by Party Chief Whip Amna Ally.
Selman explained that she was unprepared to get engaged in a public fraca
=s with Ally who has embarrassed her on many occasions in public. She cited two incidents, one at the Public Buildings when she was accosted by Ally in the presence of representatives of the media and at the wake for the late Deputy Speaker Deborah Baker when she was abused in indecent language in the presence of other PNC leaders, including Aubrey Norton.
The young Parliamentarian said that her abuse was ignored by all the party leaders, some of whom witnessed this second incident. Recalling her discussion with Granger on this issue, she said that she did report to him about the incident at the Parliament Buildings and he said, ‘I had no clue that Ms Ally is abusive.’ I told him that I am not complaining because I am aware of what happens when you complain in the party. He said he will not tell her that I complained but he will know how to deal with it.
Questioned if he dealt with it, she said that if he did she is unaware but she did not think he did anything because after that talk Ally continued with the same abusive behaviour with her and other members of the partnership.
Selman is of the strong view that there is no democracy in the PNC/APNU. Stating that the members of the other parties have found it difficult to work with the PNC and she named Desmond Trotman of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) as one member on the Opposition benches who has had to bypass the Opposition Chief Whip Amna Ally to have his questions and motions placed on the Order Paper. “He was doing it (passing it through the Chief Whip) for more than a year and his questions and motions were not appearing on the Order Paper and he was getting no response from Ally … and the records will show that,” she told the host.
She said the youths in the party are not spared from Ally’s tirade, and Renita Williams, the PNC’s MP from Region 1, was also verbally abused by Ally and was advised by PNC youth leader and MP, Christopher Jones to write PNC leader David Granger on the issue but no action taken.
MANAGEMENT STYLE
She described Granger’s management style as ineffective as he does not allow for debate that may allow an opposing view from another individual, whom he considers of lower stature, to be accommodated. She said there is no debate as to what line the party should take as “a few persons, Mr (Carl) Greenidge in particular, has his way with every decision that has to be made.” She said some of the partners of the APNU have also suffered the same fate as some have had to bypass the leader of the Opposition and the Opposition Chief Whip and submit questions directly to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
Selman said that her resignation was written on December 20, 2014 after she was verbally abused with indecent language by Ally when she was asked to have her employer to have Congress Place (the PNC) Headquarters decorated for an event and he was late in completing the job.
She said that Ally’s behaviour towards her changed after Granger took over the PNC because her behaviour would not have been tolerated by former party leader, Robert Corbin. She said that she has heard her referring to indigenous Guyanese by derogatory names which is appalling.
“Persons in all the Regions have problems with Ms Ally and the party but they are just holding on because they need something to hold on to … or they are too proud to go to another party, they are afraid of what people will say,” she asserted. She stated that many people are remaining with the PNC because they are afraid of change.
Selman said that she joined the PNC in 2006 when she was approached by Aubrey Norton while studying at the University of Guyana to campaign as they would return free education from nursery to university. She said that she joined the party believing that she could have made a difference. “I felt the party shared some of my ideals. I was disenchanted when the student loan came up (for vote in the 2015 budget debate) as one of the bulk items and because the Opposition believed that it would have benefited the government with some of the allocation, benefit them for the campaign we should not support it – for me that was a no no. Were I the leader I would have supported that one because many persons are beneficiaries of the loans. I myself benefitted from the loans and I said it to them, but they said no no! The Government will use some of this money for the campaign so we just have to cut it,” she told the host.
She said that she felt that it is important that individuals be given the opportunity within the party to express their views without it being made public but she said the attitude in the PNC/APNU was ‘this is what we decide and you have to go with it’.
Touching on the recent agreement between the AFC and the APNU, the Member of Parliament said that most members were not privy to the agreement that was reached as only a handful of PNC leaders made the decisions.
ELISABETH HARPER
Reacting to the naming of Elisabeth Harper as the Prime Ministerial Candidate for the People’s Progressive Party, Selman said, “When I saw it I felt it was an excellent choice. I have had experience with Ms Harper while shadowing (as Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister) Foreign Affairs. I have had to call her on a number of issues and she has always been helpful …those are the types of leaders we want for Guyana persons who are genuinely interested in people’s development, I think that is what she does best.”
Recounting the performance of the Opposition in the tenth Parliament, Selman said that it was her opinion that as an Opposition the APNU/AFC should have been willing to look at the positives and commend them when they are seen and make recommendations for the correction of the negatives. She said they have no holistic approach or policy – too much is left to individuals to formulate policy for the party’s approach.
SCARE TACTICS
She also lambasted the two parties for what she described as scaring persons away from Guyana “when leaders are going to get up and say Guyana is pervaded by crime and insecurity… persons will not be willing to return to Guyana. If there is an environment of insecurity people will not want to come back.” Questioned if she was referring to the APNU, she said, “Yes and also the AFC.”
Many persons have been highly critical and had voiced their suspicions on many of the inefficiencies and issues regarding the attitude and operation of the Opposition in the tenth parliament as raised by Selman in her interview. The most recent concern being the secret deal signed between the two parties which saw them naming people to positions, even before people are officially nominated as candidates for parties. Their tactics of scaring away investors was also criticised by Government.