Eyewitness: Who do they think they’re fooling…

0

…with the protests?

PNC-wannabe-leader Aubrey Norton was nabbed by the Police on Monday for allegedly “leading an illegal procession”. He and a dozen others were detained briefly and released on $10,000 bail each. But the old warhorse stoutly denied the charge. In fact, he claimed he was merely taking a morning stroll down Regent Street, which begins a stone’s throw away from the Square of the Revolution. It was presumably merely coincidental that Opposition protestors had responded to well-publicised calls to “shut down the city” and gathered there! They were protesting the (“installed” and “illegal cabal”) Govt’s measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus various and sundry other gripes.

But Norton had to’ve seen the protestors at the Square, since they were in front of his eyes!! He insisted he was alone on his perambulations, and was SPONTANEOUSLY joined by some of them who espied him taking his morning constitutional!! He was no Pied Piper!! So, who organised the protests? “Wasn’t me!!” shouted Mr Norton and other PNC leaders like the newly appointed Opposition Leader Roysdale Forde, SC! Never mind that all of them had been appearing on the now ubiquitous social media platforms extolling past protests in Linden, East Coast Demerara and Georgetown, and calling for the complete shutdown this week!!

No…the protests were all “totally unplanned” – Jumbie Umbrellas, if you will!!! – sprouting overnight! But Norton had to’ve also known in advance, because while doing his Shaggy impersonation, he mentioned he was far from “the procession coming down Vlissengen Street!” Now, THAT procession had been blocked by the Police half-a-mile away! How’d he know about it?!!

The whole manoeuvre was clearly planned from the beginning to be more effective that the attempt last week, when another wannabe leader wandered off from the protest at the Square and went down Brickdam to picket the Ministry of Education! That protest de jour was the reopening of schools, and it fizzled like a damp squib!! The PNC clearly wanted to create a bigger blast, and decided to bring in Regent St – the metaphor for PPP and Indian ascendancy – into the picture.

It the concerns were about COVID vaccine “mandate”, the Ministry of Health is literally just across the Square!! Norton didn’t have to wander over to Regent Street to await protestors from the East!! This “protest” also fizzled because these fellow “radicals” are too clever for their own good. Yes, some of their constituents are “vaccine hesitant”. And yes, the Government’s efforts to act in the public good on vaccination rubs them the wrong way. But even more are convinced that vaccination’s the way to go.
And the mixed signals will ensure mixed reactions!

…egging on Venezuela?

Your Eyewitness returns to the Venezuelan threat – as the Opposition continues to weaken us from within. We want to reiterate that Norway and the other states that inveigled Maduro and his arch foe Guaido to kiss and make up by using our Essequibo as bait are playing a dangerous game. They should remember that ends are merely realised means. And using Guyana’s territory as bait to gain a respite for Venezuela can end up as a Venezuelan consensus to seize the rest of Essequibo – as they did Ankoko back in 1966.

This sort of transactional and coldly opportunistic “quid pro quo” approach in the international arena can only lead to chaos. How can facilitators Norway, Netherlands, Mexico justify thumbing of their noses at the World Court, which has confirmed jurisdiction on the Venezuelan controversy? On recommendation of the UN Good Officer process for dispute resolution in the international arena?
So, what will they suggest at the Sept 24 meeting? Carpet bombing Guyana?

…with their misogyny

One PNC social media activist is really taking things too far with his attacks on Min of Education Priya Manickchand. Your Eyewitness just received a clip with a ditty, “Priya is a wild hog”.
So who is he? A Buxton bore?

---