Today I had intended to write a slightly different follow up to my previous post. This Stabroek News article has caused me to make some adjustments.
The thrust of my initial post was that the PNC’s only plausible chance to survive with a slight semblance of credibility is to elect the irreproachable Winston Murray as leader. It would have gone on to make the point that a team of Dr. Richard Van West-Charles as leader with Murray’s endorsement is a backward configuration. My contention was that Murray, not Van West-Charles should take charge of the seriously ailing PNC.
Murray commands the respect of the party faithful and those who have become disillusioned, even the government finds it difficult to sully his name, reputation and character and has virtually withdrawn any efforts to so do. Across the political, social and cultural divides Murray is seen as a professional and compassionate man of integrity and purpose. He is perhaps Guyana’s most genuinely credible and believable politician.
His soul has not been corrupted by national politics nor has Murray been consumed by the beast that is the party. He is his own man, quietly and intelligently following his own path regardless of political and social consequence. He is the man the PNC needs at this juncture to foster reconciliation and broker peace within. He is best positioned to rebuild and retool the party in its most perilous state since its conception.
The PNC, for its very survival, needs to capitalize on Murray’s powers of thoughtful diplomacy, civility and human decency to win back the active support of dozens of fine leaders who have quietly departed the ranks of the party in disillusionment. Murray, not Corbin, not Van West-Charles can best infuse energy, vitality and life into the party which it has been lacking since the death of Desmond Hoyte.
Should the PNC re-elect Corbin – as it is poised to do – it will be, to state the situation simply and grimly, digging its own grave and all to the benefit of the two parties it finds itself contending with for political space. If the PNC as a collective body does not realise that Murray, not the uninspiring Corbin, must be its leader at this time, then the party is not worth any serious consideration by the voting populace.
The options should be clear. To elect one leader is to commit to resurgence and recapturing lost relevance; to elect the other is to commit him to lead the party on a final walk to the political graveyard. Van West-Charles has apparently recognized the stark difference, will the broader PNC constituency?
1 Comment
August 21, 2009 at 4:01 pm
[...] bloggers react. Guyana 360 calls the move “a display of political maturity”, while Imran Khan says: “If the PNC…does not realise that Murray…must be its leader at this time, [...]