The uniqueness of the 6 cultural deities of our 6 peoples, which all ground us in peace, love and respect for one another, is the core of what gives us the greatest hope for a country where love, rather than mistrust, can prevail and fairness, rather than inequity, can be our guide.
For centuries, this time of year, Christmas, has been the one season that brings universal celebration to our small nation when one and all come together, through gathering or gift, showing that we can live in peace with each other, and it is the peace makers who are truly blessed.
Last year was a tumultuous one in many ways, and more specifically to the very core of the foundations of our Party.
But this year brings with it a new beginning for our Nation because we now have a democratically elected Opposition that will pledge to uphold its Party’s tenet – that all of us are entitled to a full, productive and happy life.
As a result, we can talk with a little less anxiety, much more confidently because of the new way that is promised in the new day.
Very shortly, we will address pressing issues in the capacity of the elected Opposition Party, which we are.
There will be much more to follow but those details belong to those moments.
On behalf of my Party, I wish the entire nation health, wealth and prosperity and ask that we continue to show our love for all by embracing our public health guidelines at this time of global peril.
We wish you all a prosperous new year.
That’s the message we hoped to hear.
Narratives in the world of politics are more than just words associated with a cause. Trained speech writers typically function in these roles because their education is interrelated to statecraft which succeeds, largely, on proficient communication.
Moreover, we come from a heritage, as the only English speaking country on the continent that follows in the tradition of the British Parliament and British Politicians, where eloquence is the vehicle of substance and custom and practice guide pertinence and propriety.
The party has had as its forerunners, the likes of its founder Forbes Burnham and extensions in Euisi Kwayana, Fred Wills, Shirley Field Ridley, Winifred Gaskin, the Luckhoo brothers who have left us with a parliamentary anthology that serves as a national reminder of the power of our speech(es) and the impact of our message when we speak in the capacity of political leaders.
No folks, this is not old fashioned, as is the current retort but it’s the guard rails and gate keeper of our political institutions.
It’s about preserving their reverence and why reversing the descent into operational indecency is critical to maintaining the intended purpose of institutional lawfulness, which acts as a guide for societal conduct.
The preservation of legacy is more than a salute to founders, folks.
It is protection of an epoch, our span, our era of political civilization.
Speeches verbalize the thinking of the office, the Party and should be packaged for consumption by topic… which would make a New Year’s message predicated upon good will and distilled of extended politicking.
And this comes on the back of the previous one – the 2019 Christmas message delivered on behalf of the Party – which deviated fiercely from the traditions mentioned above and was indeed a reflection of the flaccid tenor of government and party at that time…a cloistered operation with a muddled messaging strategy.
That Leadership’s failure was a loss to the nation as its constitutionally elected Opposition, which has not only set the country back but has made it victim of the machinations of nations that have now repurposed those politicians once behind Government syndicated murder, to steer the reins of current governing along the paths of western desires, America…
We look to new leadership to be reparative and restorative and will not pretend that they can do so utilizing proven methods of failure.
Rewarding those in the trenches may make good headlines but our politics need to transcend trench warfare.
Political success lives well beyond grass rooting and pledges of indignance. Success in politics demands expert input into its management which is governed by its ability to communicate at raw and public relations levels.
It’s not the lifting of whole segments and harvesting of whole passages from other people’s work for personal aggrandizement, as we’ve seen recently.
It is granular knowledge of the craft.
Mr. Norton has emerged as the democratically elected winner of PNCR elections and as Guyanese, we support him and all efforts to make the change the Party needs to be the country’s viable Opposition and Government-in- Waiting.
We are patriots first because we believe that each race, ethnicity, is entitled to the quiet enjoyment and opportunities for livelihood that are guaranteed by the articles of Independence handed down from colonization, to mold the Constitution of 1980.
And let’s make the distinction of governing activity, its differentiation, quite clear.
For its decades at the helm and under its different iterations of Government, the PPP’s patriotic deeds have dovetailed with their community outreach to their partisan strongholds, while showing blanket hostility to Afro Guyanese.
That’s not patriotism. That’s racism by government institution.
We need our Opposition but we need it to know that we’ll be as critical of it as we are of any political entity operating on the national stage.
The practice of politics, per our constitution, is for national benefit and not private enterprise.
We are invested in its practice only to the extent that it serves the purpose of being of service to the nation, according to its charter.
And for those overleaping themselves to accuse us of attacking Mr. Norton, in your sense of the word we are;
only because it is imperative he does better, ignores any impulse to engage in politics as usual and understands that the Party is not a self-sufficient entity for its Administrative resources.
His mandate extends beyond the walls of his Party, gives him the reins of Opposition control which, if effectively implemented, will not yield our democracy to a choice between our constitution and the PPP, with healthy servings of foreign interference.
A viable and robust Opposition will professionally hold the government accountable by matching action to policy and scrutinizing practice by law, without the remonstrative theatrics that embarrass more than construct.
Mr. Norton ran for this office because he was ambitious enough to want it and we applaud him for that patriotic desire but that does not mean we’ll act like he has done us a favor.
He’ll be reminded that he doesn’t have to do this alone and that retooling and relaunching systems with the requisite skill sets will only lead towards success.
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