Dear Land of Guyana by Moses V. Nagamootoo

– a book review by Christopher Ram

Part 4

Chapter 17 is titled Campaign and Elections and reports on the immediate action required to hold the elections following the ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice that the no confidence motion (NCM) in December 2018 was properly passed, the Government had fallen, and elections had to be held. The book does not detail the delay tactics by the APNU + AFC Government to stay in office in a clear violation of the constitutional requirement for elections within 90 days of the NCM, or the validity of legislation purportedly passed by the Government thereafter, matters which as a lawyer could not be alien to Mr. Nagamootoo. Yet, he writes about the triumph of Parliamentary democracy.

The tone of the chapter suggests that things were not too right for him. From his own accounting, while he was sidelined, other Ministers became emboldened following the vote. He tells the story that while acting as president, he was summoned to a meeting in the office of Cathy Hughes Vice Chair of the AFC where the Jamaican advisor and architect of the Cummingsburg Accord - with whom he never seemed to have had a cordial relationship – told him that the Coalition needed “a brand-new slate”.

Popularity and betrayal

Unabashedly, Nagamootoo writes that given his popularity both on the coast and in the hinterland communities, going into the elections without him as the symbolic head of the AFC was a “huge mistake.” He lamented that except for a 20-minute speech at Anna Regina, he was assigned no role in the elections campaign or manifesto preparation, and criticises the Coalition for its failure to reach out sufficiently to Indo-Guyanese communities and for being carried away by a “misplaced display of overconfidence and triumphalism”.

Writing about the betrayal by AFC MP Charrandass Persaud that led to the fall of the Coalition Government, Nagamootoo expresses surprise at the lack of outrage at the betrayal by an AFC member of Parliament that caused the collapse of the government, even as he claims that he instructed Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, the AFC leader and Minister of Public Security to put arrangements in place for the security of Persaud as he (Persaud) was leaving the country. Nagamootoo writes in praise of the absence of violence following the confidence vote, drawing a parallel with the violence that erupted following the “installation” of Janet Jagan after the 1997 elections.

He writes of his confidence of a Coalition victory against the PPP which was going into the elections with its presidential candidate Irfaan Ali who was facing several allegations of sleaze while he held office as a minister and claims about the genuineness of his academic qualifications. According to Nagamootoo, Ali had barely survived a bruising internal party campaign against his popular contenders, among whom were Dr. Frank Anthony, Anil Nandlall and Dr. Vindhya Persaud. The book notes however, the emphasis of the PPP/C on the number 50,000 - in new jobs, new house lots, new homes, new scholarships, stipend for trainee teachers, and for cash grants for every school child.

Foreign interference and the order to vacate office

He writes too that expert foreign experts were directing the PPP campaign naming Mercury and Cambridge Analytica – and engaging in PR stunts like the preparation of props and footage for propaganda spins. He accused the PPP/C, with more than a hint of irony, or prescience, of spreading the news that the Coalition would rig the elections.

About the elections themselves, he writes about the rigging to facilitate the PPP‘s return to office as being well planned and executed. He mentions specifically the “interference by Mercury, and by high-ranking US officials,” the bloated electors list, and the nasty threats of sanctions from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - a “fatal form of American bullying and interference.” He does, however, acknowledge that while it was a Guyana tragedy for democracy, part of the blame for failure had to be placed at the feet of the Coalition, including some levels of distrust among key partners.

That theme continues in chapter 18 with Nagamootoo claiming that Pompeo “ordered us to vacate office, and threatened consequences”. The book suggests that Pompeo totally ignored the Recount processes and legal challenges before the courts.

Continuing, Nagamootoo writes that the process was railroaded and that it did not take long for the carpetbaggers to cash in on their promissory notes, including the AFC defector Charrandass Persaud being rewarded with a diplomatic posting and his “godfather” Peter Ramsaroop being named Director of Go-Invest. The chapter also addresses a bombshell announcement that Taiwan had opened a trade office in Guyana “a pre-planned move” that was applauded by U.S. ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch. The decision was reversed following a call by President Xi of China to the Guyana President and a statement that the announcement was a “result of a miscommunication of the agreement signed,” and that the agreement had since been terminated.

Back to the beginning

Chapter 19 is titled Back to the Beginning, in which Moses writes about drawing inspiration from Christian idealism of serving the poor and joining the PPP and its youth movement in October 1964. He reports that he became a voracious reader of Marxist texts and anticommunist literature from Christian movements and engaged in endless discussion on ideology. He writes of a lovehate relationship with Janet Jagan, a founder member of the PPP and the editor of the Mirror newspaper, accusing her of the “hidden hand that manipulated [his] life” and using one of her “hatchet-men” Clement Rohee, against him.

As he claims, on two occasions, Cheddi Jagan tried to dissuade him from pursuing further studies, succeeding on the first occasion (UG) but not the second (Law School). Referring to some of the rightwing/ left wing contradictions within the PPP, he recalls Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye as consoling the right wing Balramsingh Rai by observing that “the party works in devious ways, comrade.”

Writing about the 1998 Party elections in which he came second to Janet Jagan, he describes how ballots were managed and how his request to observe the count was quickly rejected. His narration of his experiences in the post-1964 PPP - including medical examinations at a Black Sea sanitarium in the USSR - makes fascinating reading,