Granger uses women as “front”

Africo Selman flanked by Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker and other PPP/C officials at the Yarrowkabra meeting

– Selman says wants to keep them “barefoot and pregnant”

By Michael Younge

Former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Africo Selman, has accused Opposition Leader David Granger of using the hard working women within his party as a front to give the impression that the party respects women and has a plan for their overall development and upward mobility. But, she said, in reality, Granger wanted to relegate them to subservient roles.

Selman, who threw  her support behind the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) back in January after claiming she experienced the worst forms of emotional, verbal and psychological abuse with the Opposition camp, spoke at several political public meetings for the ruling party over the past few weeks.

 She addressed crowds gathered at Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara and Yarrowkabra, located on the Linden Highway telling them that the coalition and some of its male members including those at its helm were sidelining women and young ladies who have dissenting, independent views and wanted to be promoted to senior postings on the basis of meritocracy.

Selman condemned what she called the “sheer hypocrisy” and “window dressing” occurring with the PNCR and APNU as she called on Guyanese present at the PPP/C’s meetings to take a stance against the abuse, misuse and maltreatment of women in politics.

“They are saying one thing and doing another. They are using women as a front and they are ill-treating and sidelining them behind the scenes,” she said as she shared her own experiences with the crowd. “They want to just keep us ‘barefoot and pregnant’.”

 Selman further alleged that the Opposition had no real plan for women development and it was evident from its campaign that it was less concerned about women issues as it appeared more bent on the sensational stuff which would secure political mileage

Expressing gratitude each time she took the platform at the various meetings, Selman said that she was pleased to see the ruling Party actively involved in strengthening the zeal of woman and advocating their rights. She said that it was clear that the PPP/C has promoted women empowerment at every level of its structure explaining that it had space to accommodate women who wanted to make a difference in their lives and that of their community. The female politician, a youth activist herself, lauded the work done by the Government to boost the education sector and provide equitable access to education at all levels.

Victimised

She spoke of the decision taken by the coalition to vote against the students’ loans provisions for those attending University explaining the overtures she made to have the Opposition move in a different direction. She also informed those gathered that she spoke out against the positions taken by APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) on the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project and the Anti-Money Laundering Bill and was later victimised and abused for her stance. “There are intelligent women like Volda Lawrence within the coalition who I believe continues to be sidelined while others like Amna Ally are handpicked on the basis of favouritism and because they will dance the leaders’ tune”, Selman said.

Selman also condemned the anti-democratic nature of APNU. Speaking to the Guyana Times, she said that women had always been the backbone of the PNC – starting with Jane Phillips Gay, Shirley Field-Ridley and Winifred Gaskin and the thousands of women who carried the burden of the party. . But under Granger there has obviously been instituted a policy of sidelining women. “Granger has brought in dozens of ex-military personnel into the party apparatus and sidelined PNC stalwarts. But even in this building of his support base, he has not brought in any female ex-member of the Disciplined Forces.”

The schoolteacher whose role had been miniaturised in Parliament by Granger, offered other illustrations of Granger’s alleged anti-women proclivities: “Vanessa Kissoon is feeling the victimisation from Granger…but unlike me, she wants to continue inside the PNC. I would like to tell her that she will be destroyed, because there is no space for her unless she wants to be a lapdog for Granger,” Selman said. “She should reflect what happened to Faith Harding, who had been brought into the party by Mr [Desmond] Hoyte. She was rigged out of her chance to become a leader of the PNC. Even if she would have lost, she should have been given a fair chance. She had earned that right.”

She urged Guyanese to vote for the PPP/C who she said was a party that was willing to work long and hard for the country’s continued progress and development.

Selman is slated to speak prominently at several other PPP/C meetings and rallies in the lead up to this year’s General and Regional Elections on May 11. The University graduate, who resigned her seat as a parliamentarian with APNU before the dissolution of Parliament, had argued that she was abused by APNU Chief Whip Amna Ally on several occasions and the party leader David Granger was aware, stood by and did nothing to rescue her.