David Granger and Volda Lawrence: Comparative notes
Kaieteur News – I received several queries about my column on Friday, April 2, 2021 under the title, “PNC will have to rig its own election to stop Volda Lawrence.” Some people asked if I don’t think Granger has more moderation in him than Lawrence. They said that since I painted Lawrence as the bully machine in the PNC refusing to surrender, then the PNC should not elect her as its leader.
I agree. But reality in the political world, anywhere on Planet Earth, is not something that mortals can shape and reshape based on our feelings. The cruel reality out there is that she has the votes to win if both are fighting for PNC membership hearts.
One of the queries I had was who would I be back to if Lawrence squares with Granger. It’s a difficult question. Every evil person has certain qualities that stand out when you compare them to another human being who is just as evil. Lawrence and Granger have done some “positives” that make choosing who to lead the PNC a daunting task.
I think Lawrence prevented widespread instability in Guyana when he went to Region Five and mollified the heathen heads of an African Guyanese who bent to create chaos last September following the murder of the two cousins at Cotton Tree.
The PNC intended to use the two homicides to produce national-scale ethnic violence to send a message to the PPP government after Dr. Irfaan Ali sworn in as President. Harmon and Granger went to Region Five to implement a strategy that all Guyanese would have depressed. Their initiations led to attacks on East Indians.
The strategy was twofold. One was to get African villages to come out and confront the Indian people. The other part was hoping that Indians, after being attacked, would take revenge and that Guyana would have had an environment of civil war. In fact, couriers went to African villages to get people to protest. Buxtonians did not agree. Indian villages in Region Five on the other hand were ready to fight even though PPP leaders pleaded with them not to.
In fact, Indians of the Bath Settlement had already armed themselves to march for violent engagement. They were so angry that they beat an East Indian businessman to death who wanted to pass eastbound and in frustration fired at the crowds.
Lawrence then undid what Granger and Harmon were planning to do. In that context, it played a vital role in preventing what could easily have deteriorated into ethnic compatibility. See my column on Friday, September 11, 2020, captioned, “Volda Lawrence has shown incredible courage and leadership.”
Lawrence’s negative side is worrying. He took the lead in refusing to surrender defeat. Even if we cheat Granger, he wasn’t as tough as Lawrence and amazingly Cathy Hughes during the five-month crisis in 2020. I agree that Granger was just as determined to hold power but not as rigid as Lawrence . For example, Granger faced the wrath of the PNC hierarchy when he agreed to CARICOM’s decision as expressed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley to have a recount.
There are still hidden dimensions of the recount decision that will never emerge and perhaps a few words here and now might help. I think Granger agreed to the recount in a high-risk gamble. He believed that Jagdeo would have rejected the recount and insisted on re-examining the Division Four votes only.
Granger showed tremendous political infantility in thinking that Jagdeo would say no. Jagdeo had the voting statements and figured any recount would have to depend on them. And that’s what the CARICOM repeater team did. After Granger knew that Jagdeo had been defeated, I believe that all PNC and AFC leaders have agreed to foul the recount by asking the court to rule against him. In the context of the recount manouvres, there is no difference between Granger and Lawrence.
In the end, the election mess ended because of Granger alone. He could have fought on, clinging to power as Lawrence wanted. If Lawrence had his way, Guyana would have been in a comatose state as I wrote this piece here. Granger took a different path. I think most Guyanese know he was dropped from Parliament because of the torrid and fituperative conflict they had between March and July in 2020. So who is my choice? I have no one and no interest in having one.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.)