Dear Editor,

When last has the Head of State read his 100-Day Plan in his Manifesto? We have read it and were utterly disgusted at the delivery performance on the promises made. The promise to provide thousands of jobs for the youths turned out to be a scam in that it led to the hiring of pensioners and retired army officers. The promise to establish a department in the Diaspora turned out to be the biggest phony scheme pulled off on the people in the Diaspora to finance the 2015 election campaign. And the promise to provide a better life for all has become the greatest farce in the history of the country.

Unfortunately, the head of state has now earned the record as the leader of Guyana with the worst delivery rate since independence in May 1966 and unless he changes course, we do not expect his performance to improve. In fact, he has earned the unenviable title of speaking more than acting in the interest of the people.  This is a dark tragedy in the country where ego has overwhelmed competence, stubbornness has replaced rationality, and commonsense has turned into stupidity. Listening to his utterances has demonstrated that he has very poor judgement and is incapable of healing the racial divide in Guyana. Under his watch, Guyana has engaged in a process of taxing the poor to feed the rich and the end game of this strategy is endless poverty, joblessness and a quagmire of economic depression.

The head of state’s steadfast and rigid adherence to the belief that he and only he is correct at all times is moronic. His biggest problem is that he is a very poor communicator and uncaring for the poor and the working class.  His single biggest blunder to date is his failure to find solutions for the constant power blackouts, high crime rate, declining agriculture production, floods, inability to charge anyone for alleged corrupt practices after spending more than $175 million of the taxpayers’ money on audits, and refusing to embrace youths with talent and skills. He has surrounded himself with “Yes” men and women many of whom lack original thoughts and the ability to think creatively. The president should be reminded that he is not the head of a military organization where all his commands must be carried out. He is now dealing with a civilian population in a democracy where criticism must flourish. He continues to frustrate independent and progressive thoughts which exposes his insecurity.

Simply put, his failure to deliver on his 100-Day promises, exposes his inability to rise to the challenge, lead the nation and move the country forward. We challenge him to deliver on this one promise, the Code of Conduct for his Ministers.  In his 100-Day Plan he said that “A Code of Conduct will be established for Parliamentarians, Ministers and others holding high positions in government to abide by, including mechanisms for those to demit office if in violation of the Code of Conduct. After 18 months, there is still no code of conduct, and we believe that none will be forthcoming either. Talk is cheap, and talk without follow-up action is deceptive.

Yours faithfully,

Asquith Rose and Harish Singh