THE ruling party last Friday commended the acting Foreign Minister Priya Manickchand for delivering a “feral” blast to United States Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt, condemning him for the “alarming” utterances that he made against the Government of Guyana.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was speaking of the showdown between Hardt and the Government of Guyana last Wednesday evening at the commemoration of the 238th Independence Anniversary of the U.S. event, held at his Cummings Lodge residence.
Speaking at the symposium, in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Detention of the Party’s Leaders, last Friday at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (Red House), General-Secretary Clement Rohee said, “I recently saw on television another strong young woman… and as I was looking at her making her speech, I said to myself, ‘it is good to know that we have strong woman.’
“For Minister Priya Manickchand to stand up and to make a speech like that to the most powerful country in the world, she’s got to be a very strong person… I felt proud that the PPP has people like that…We still have people to stand up and speak on behalf of this country, represent this country and to defend this country,” he said.
Following Ambassador Hart’s contention that President Ramotar was party to a breach of Guyana’s Constitution for failing to give his required approval for the local government legislation, Minister Manickchand, an articulate and tough-talking Cabinet minister, accused him of having “crossed the red line.”
Manickchand said there is a red line in diplomatic relations, and Hardt had crossed that line. She made no bones about the fact that diplomatic relations demand a commitment to accuracy, referring to misconceptions peddled on the hosting of local government elections.
HYPOCRITICAL
At the event last Wednesday, Manickchand accused Hardt of creating tensions between Guyana and the U.S., and for the position he took on many local issues, positions she deemed hypocritical.
Not since political independence was attained by Guyana, has a diplomatic envoy of a foreign nation been so involved in open domestic political controversies as Mr. Hardt. His frequent public interventions in matters of national interest, at times revealed scant disrespect for the norms of quiet diplomacy that other accredited foreign diplomats routinely observe when they find it necessary to engage the government on specific issues.
Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2014/07/08/ppp-commends-manickchand-for-standing-up-to-ambassador-hardt