The ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) and their long-time foe, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) on Tuesday traded blame on a series of past and current crimes.
PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee started the blame game when early in the day he called out leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger on statements he made regarding consultations on the 2014 budget.
Rohee was at the time reading a statement at the party’s weekly press conference on Tuesday, during which he spoke about Granger’s meeting with senior military officials of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) earlier this month. Granger had pledged his support to the army on its budget allocations and to combat the fight against narco-trafficking in light of Guyana being linked to the Italian drug mafia.
According to Rohee, the statements made by the opposition leader seem to be in contrast with the APNU’s refusal to engage government on consultations on the 2014 budget estimates.
Discussions
“One is left to wonder whether the discussions with the army top brass is intended to be a back door attempt by Granger to preempt and influence the budgetary allocations to the army, having regard to his public utterances regarding his party’s support for the army’s allocation during the forthcoming budget debates,” he stated.
The general secretary questioned the reason for the Opposition Leader meeting with senior army personnel under the pretext of national security concerns when his party, when in the National Assembly, he is desperately trying to undermine the efforts of the PPP/C administration to put legislative and administrative measures in place to protect the integrity of the country and its people.
Rohee noted that given APNU’s constant attacks on the work of the Joint Services, Granger’s statements are all the more intriguing if not hollow.
Rohee went on to accuse Granger, along with APNU shadow home affairs minister Joseph Harmon, of providing intelligence to the People’s National Congress (PNC) to oppress and suppress the political opposition during the Burnham-Hoyte era.
The PPP/C general secretary, who is also the Home Affairs Minister, noted that in his talks with the military, he hopes that Granger articulated to the chief-of-staff his plans to address the fight against narco-trafficking, given his manifest lack of familiarity with the Joint Task Force’s activities and initiatives.
Scandalous
The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) responding to Rohee, said his allegations are untrue.
“The PNCR strongly condemns the statements that have been attributed to Clement Rohee…. It is a total fabrication that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has ‘constantly’ attacked the Joint Services. What is true is our criticism of and lack of confidence in James Clement Rohee and his total incompetence and willful neglect of the security sector of this nation.”
The PNCR also denied Rohee’s assertion regarding Granger’s involvement in hijacking ballot boxes and the death of two Guyanese during the 1973 general elections.
In November 2011, Brigadier Granger had stated: “I was not the commander of the Guyana Defence Force (in 1973). I was not at the scene of any shooting. I never shot anyone.” Further, there was a Commission of Inquiry coordinated by the Honourable Justice Dhanessar Jhappan that looked into the shooting at Number 64 Village during the 1973 General Elections.”
Gutter politics
The PNCR said it sees this type of “gutter politics by the PPP/C as an attempt to divert the attention of the people of Guyana from the party’s incompetence and lack of vision for this nation and the plight and struggles of the average working men and women of this nation”.
It added: “The PNCR calls attention to the fact that while Rohee peddles his disinformation and propaganda, the vital security sector, which is his remit, cries out for competent leadership.”
