Jagdeo says Moses is a messenger
I would argue with any person in or out of Guyana that Moses Nagamootoo was responsible for the 2011 minority government of the PPP and the 2015 defeat of the PPP. In both general elections, if there wasn’t Nagamootoo, I do not think the AFC’s showing would have been as impressive as it was.
In 2015, Nagamootoo’s supporters rejected the AFC’s alliance with what for them was the PNC. But a small percentage of East Indians was vital to taking the APNU+AFC over the 50 percent mark to clinch victory. Those small numbers consisted of persons who persisted with Moses and the AFC.
My deeply felt belief is that it is over for the AFC. They will not get even one percent of the votes they got from their supporters in 2011 and 2015. The reason for that awaits a separate column.
The Nagamootoo voters of 2011 and 2015 will reject him in 2020 if he runs again and I don’t think he will. The Nagamootoo voters gave their ballot to make Moses number two after Granger. They were disappointed when the ministries were gazetted. I can recall vividly there were two types of reaction. One was from my media colleagues; the other from a majority of second tier AFC leaders.
Media personnel simply joked among themselves (I was part of the hilarity) when they saw the gazette of the jurisdictional outlines of Harmon’s power as against the areas for Nagamootoo. It was clear the Minister of the Ministry of the Presidency was the source of power after the president himself. And it has been like that since May 2015. For many in the second tier leadership of the AFC, they were livid when they saw the gazette.
From there on, I think many in the AFC began to speak about a hogging of power by the PNC which was supported by a trenchant Stabroek News editorial at the time. It was this diminution of Moses’s power that led to the advocacy by the AFC at a special retreat at the Convention Centre for a curtailment of Harmon’s wide jurisdiction. Confusion followed the press release and as we know, Nigel Hughes resigned as Chairman of the AFC.
It is not only unfair but perhaps dishonest to denounce the position of Bharrat Jagdeo when he put his case to Jimmy Carter on his request to exclude Moses as chief negotiator. Jagdeo last week said that he told Carter that Nagamootoo does not have the kind of state power that is needed to act on behalf of the APNU+AFC. I accept that position of Jagdeo. It was pragmatic and full of the force of realpolitik.
When you talk about Moses Nagamootoo leading the dialogue with the PPP on far reaching changes to Guyana’s sociological, social, legal and political landscape think of one secondary issue and Nagamotoo’s failure to explain his obligation to the nation. When the Chronicle removed David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis as columnist, there was a huge reaction, most of it negative.
AFC leader, Trotman batted first. He said his party did not request the removal of the columnists and his party has the utmost respect for both men. The President went to the wicket next. He made it clear his government was not involved. Batting in third place was Joe Harmon. He backed his president and cleared the air about governmental intervention.
The chairman of the Chronicle board, Geeta Chandan, came out swinging at the announcement and said she did not accept the decision to drop Hinds and Lewis. She publicly scolded her editor-in-chief.
Lincoln Lewis has accused Nagamootoo of being part of the decision to do away with the columns. Nagamootoo, according to Lewis, is the subject minister and had to be involved. To this day, Nagamootoo cannot fulfill his obligation and tell Guyanese what role he had if any. Nagamootoo doesn’t see the need to do what Trotman, the President, Harmon and Chandan have done.
Is this the man we will entrust to lead the government side in sensitive dialogues with the opposition? Does he qualify in terms of power and character to hold that position? But more importantly, is he empowered to make judgements that will be accepted by both his party and the major player, the PNC?
Jagdeo doesn’t think so. Do you agree? I honestly cannot see what portfolios Nagamootoo has that will empower him to act on behalf of the coalition government. If I were to select a person who I think has that authority I would say it is either the President, Joe Harmon or Amna Ally. Certainly not Moses Nagamootoo.
