People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has railed at the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition over its mismanagement of the affairs of Guyana.
Jagdeo was at the time addressing a huge crowd at the Albion Community Centre, where the PPP/Civic held its rally on Sunday.
The former President said that since entering into power in 1992 and restoring Guyana to a viable and democratic state, this would be the first General and Regional Elections that the PPP/C would be contesting as the Opposition. However, he said that they did not feel as though they were in Opposition given the significant support they have garnered over the past five years.
“It doesn’t feel that way because you know a day will come when we would resume development and when we would take back this country and continue to grow it…Given the history of PNC – how they rigged elections in the past under Cheddi Jagan, many said we have to leave this country, we will never have a future here. And I said to them, our time will come again. Our time is coming again and on March 2, the time will come again.
“We knew the Administration would be repressive; we knew it would be undemocratic; we knew that they would go back to anti-development policies because of the same nature of their economic philosophy. We knew we would see a decline of living standards in this country, because they believe in consumption not accumulation. Spending not building up, this is the old PNC at it. They believe in tearing down bonds of friendship. They believe in partisan behaviour. On the other hand, we believe in bringing people together…we knew that they were going to self-destruct,” Jagdeo said as the crowd roared in agreement.
The Opposition Leader said that the Government cannot raise taxes by over G$88 billion per year and then go on to squander it. He pointed out the hypocrisy in the coalition’s camp by informing them current Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo would be receiving a bigger pension package when he demits office than he did after being President.
Jagdeo reminded that it was Nagamootoo who campaigned on his pension package, telling supporters back in 2015 that he would never become greedy once elected to office.
“They took away incentives from the hard-working people, people who created the wealth for them to splurge on. Thousands of miners lost their jobs because of taxation. Many people in the forestry industry they lost their jobs, can’t feed their families. In agriculture, it was a pure all-out assault on people in rice but more so in the sugar sector. They just destroyed the lives of so many people without a care, without a conscience. They did it because they simply do not know how to administer a country,” he explained.
The former President said that the APNU/AFC Administration failed to realise that it had to save resources for the “rainy days”. He outlined the assault on the country’s reserves which amounted to almost G$1 billion. He identified the G$20 billion in gold that the PPP/C left which the coalition already sold. In addition, he accused them of bankrupting the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and other State entities.
“In the meantime, you would think with spending so much money that they would do better for healthcare, but you’ve heard the stories of deteriorating health care, deteriorating education. Crime is on the rise. All the sectors are in trouble. Thirty thousand people lost jobs. What is it that they have to offer?” he questioned.
He noted that the APNU/AFC coalition could not talk about progress it has made since there was none to show and so far, it has failed to present, to the people, a plan for the future. He went on to rap the coalition for its obsession with Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali and himself.
He called out the Government for lying to the sugar workers and by extension, the citizenry about the promise of a good life.
“Many will go to jail”
Jagdeo said that the current government is one of the most corrupt in the world with their leader being incompetent. He noted that the current Prime Minister remained a rubberstamp while the new candidate for the PM slot, Khemraj Ramjattan, was even more “useless” than Nagamootoo.
“Imagine when you destroy so many families. When the most corrupt government in the world now, Granger’s Government. Every single one of these ministers can go to jail and many will go to jail when the PPP wins office,” Jagdeo declared.
He noted that the coalition continued to be shameless in its approach to the citizenry, reporting that following its public meeting in Santa Rosa, Moruca, the Indigenous residents there complained about the quality of life. He slammed the Government for its use of the words “honesty” and “decency”, noting that there was not a single shred of honest and decent leadership in that party.
Speaking about the indecency, Jagdeo pointed out that former AFC parliamentarian Charrandas Persaud and Executive Veerasammy Ramayya used to peddle the lies of the coalition, but after a few years, they developed a ‘conscience’ and severed ties. It was Persaud, who delivered the critical ‘yes vote’ in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018 which ultimately toppled the Government.
Incubating young leaders
Jagdeo, who has been in politics for decades, said one of his roles as the PPP General Secretary was to mould the young leaders in the Party, a job he takes seriously.
“Every race has a place in our Party and has a right to make progress in the country and we in the PPP/Civic is the only Party that can deliver this for all of our people. Because of that, we will not only win power on March 2; we will stay in power for another 20, 30, 40 years in the future.
“We will stay in power because our message is unifying. It is a message of development for all the people. It is an inclusive message. We will stay in power because we are incubating. That’s one of my jobs as General Secretary of this Party. Another generation of leaders, look at them, young people ready for the future. In our Party we are doing that. At the governmental level, we had young people at the forefront,” he said.
Jagdeo said that unlike the Government, the PPP/C is a Party for the people with only one message of inclusiveness.
He accused President Granger of being the weakest leader in the history of Guyana – an assessment he made based on his track record. He said that Granger needed to move away from being the ceremonial President and “roll up his sleeves and work”, since it is the only way for the country to make progress.
He expressed his confidence in Ali, noting that he was the best candidate to lead Guyana forward.
“We can’t have a president who said crime is not really increasing in this country. He is out of touch with the reality of life. He is out of touch and there is nothing decent about a man who openly defies the rule of law.”
Jagdeo encouraged supporters to mobilise their bases and come out in their number on March 2 and vote the current Administration out so that Guyana could see the progress it so deserved.
