–further exposes desperation for relevance by ‘running after’ US-sanctioned Mohameds
–despite being ‘in charge’ when transgressions are alleged to have occurred, Craig says
FORMER Alliance For Change (AFC) Executive Member Leonard Craig has said that the party is “mortally afraid” of contesting the upcoming elections alone, because it is aware of the high possibility that the likely poor showing at the ballot box would further erode its plummeting political stock to zero.
He expressed these sentiments in a column published by the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, titled “An ode to Nigel Ralph and the growing desperation of the AFC.”
Craig first highlighted the meeting between AFC Leader Nigel Hughes, who is aspiring to lead a coalition in the upcoming general and regional elections, and the US-sanctioned Mohameds family.
He wrote: “The received theory is that the AFC needs to hide behind a partnership to boost its relevance at the ballot box. So, the AFC is helter-skelter seeking salvation with just about anyone; it smacks of desperation.”
Given all the events at play, he said it is one thing to seek political union with the People’s National Congress (PNC) and other legitimate political parties, but entirely another to run after a “rag-tag, politically ill-formed Team” whose greatest political purpose is to sanitise its sullied international image.
Craig said there is no doubt the AFC will view “Team Mohamed” as a complementary outfit because they are able to “excite” poor people with valuable gifts, while the AFC knows nothing about looking after the interest of the poor, even when they have leverage and power to pull the purse strings of the state.
In ordinary mainstream political allurement, Team Mohamed would be politically untouchable and persona non grata for political partnerships, but the AFC is desperate, the former AFC Executive Member said.
He added: “If we look at the period of trading for which the US OFAC sanction covers, we will see that the APNU+ AFC
coalition firmly held the reigns of power when the traceable sanctioned transactions first took place. At that time, AFC held the portfolios for natural resources and public security, under whose purview the Team Mohamed transgressions are alleged to have occurred.
“Now under US sanctions, isn’t it ironic that the very people who were in charge of detecting and policing the avenues through which Team Mohamed is alleged to have defrauded the people of Guyana to the tune of billions of dollars, are now heels overhead trying to pursue a political alliance. If this isn’t the definition of political desperation, I don’t know what is.”
He then questioned whether there is more in the mortar besides the pestle.
Craig then asked: “Is the AFC one of the “other parties” in receipt of huge donations from the Mohameds? Are there answers we should be seeking from AFC that were previously not sought?”