Dear Editor,
In 2015 the APNU-led coalition went into office after winning that General Election, and great was their celebration on that accession to office. The triumphalism in their enthusiastic supporters led the APNU Permanent Secretary into then-Minister Irfaan Ali’s Ministry to vociferously tell him to get out! He did not mince words when he issued that edict; it was an authoritarian shout to the then Minister to remove himself from office before his APNU bulldogs physically root him out of office. You see, Ali lingered a little while longer in the anticipation of a recount, but that never materialised; therefore, he had to take his marching orders with haste. Irfaan Ali did not protest, nor did he delay his moving but calmly removed himself to make way for the incoming regime.
The point that was clear here is that a person, or any political party for that matter, must readily accept defeat and do the honourable thing and demit office. The PNC are not from that school of thought; they are of the view that you remain in office as long as their rigging minds dictate, but the reality of the situation says otherwise. It began in the psyche of their founder leader, Burnham, who believed that he could have fraudulently beaten the system and remained in office for life. That idea or dogma of his met its end at his death, and so it has been ever since with that party; they do not know, or do not want to know, the time of their expiration.
Fast forward to 2026 when the call was made by GECOM’s Chairwoman Claudette Singh for US-indicated and sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed to appoint commissioners to this electoral body, and in the midst of formalising this request, the three fossilised relics of the PNC are standing in the way. That request was issued by a former judge who knows the law to the opposition leader; however, the obstinate PNC/APNU commissioners want to hang on. Aren’t they aware of the fact that they are not the opposition? Hasn’t it dawned on them that they have lost the election and are relegated to a distant minority position? No more can they lay claim to any position on statutory bodies, seeing they have lost that position of power and position?
The PNC were beaten so badly by a premature party they have helped into that place that they have been left dumbfounded and distraught at the thought of them being in that position for a very long time to come. The stark reality is yet to sink in.
That notion that they are still “in control” needs to be wiped clean out of their minds; it is time to move on into the future.
Could somebody tell Vincent and, by extension, his party, that the cabal have reached their expiry date?