AFC crumbling internally under Ramjattan’s spineless leadership
THE Oppositions’ woeful cries of ‘dictatorship’ and ‘undemocratic’ by Mr. David Granger and his AFC allies are being cunningly used in the streets and Square of the Revolution to stir up racial strife and hatred to whip up the frenzy of their supporters and to incite them against the PPP/C Government.President Donald Ramotar should never be compared to the late dictators Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte. They not only became cruel dictators through the massive rigging of elections but they have condemned us to the level where it became a criminal offence for us to put basic food items on our tables.
They pauperised an entire nation, raped the Treasury, and raped, plundered and murdered those who threatened their evil existence.
People flee from this country just to ensure that they were not murdered! Yet, Burnham’s henchman, Mr. Granger never once labelled Hoyte or Burnham as ‘dictators’ and as being ‘undemocratic’. People like Mr. Ramjattan and Mr. Nagamootoo fiercely fought against those dictators but now their greed for power and personal aggrandisement has blinded them and are now willing to facilitate the return to dictatorship but this time it will be Granger, the man who graduated with honours from the Burnham and Hoyte’s School of Dictatorship. Mr. Granger should be ashamed to hold up a placard which spoke about ‘dictatorship’ and ‘undemocratic’- he is the epitome of such terms! For 28 years the PNC Government guaranteed that Parliament would follow the dictates of Burnham and Hoyte – they not only controlled Parliament but stifled and killed the will of the people of this country. These people cannot forget their conditioned past. Just listen to Ms. Lurlene Nestor and Dr. Roopnarine, the man who is now afflicted with the Burnham Touch!
Messrs Ramjattan and Nagamootoo cannot fool the Indians in this country by sending Mr. Hughes and Mr. Patterson to represent the AFC on the APNU platform at Square of the Revolution. The Indians have long realised that soon after the 2011 Elections there was a de facto coalition between APNU and the AFC. Nagamootoo’s involvement in the Linden and Agricola unrests which targeted Indians who were beaten, sexually assaulted and robbed remains indelible in our minds and cannot be erased simply by not making a presentation at APNU’s Rally. Furthermore, AFC’s Leader Mr. Ramjattan has erased all doubts about a coalition with APNU when he emphatically stated (on DTV channel 8 on November 15) that the AFC has entered into an ‘interim coalition’ with APNU. So what is the message that Mr. Ramjattan is sending to the Indians in Berbice? Ramjattan is effectively saying that Indians should vote for us (AFC) since we did not go to APNU’s Rally, it was Mr. Hughes and Mr. Patterson-two Black persons – so we have not betrayed the Indians.
On March 8, 2012, I warned Mr. Ramjattan about his deceitful behaviour in dealing with racial issues in the AFC. When there was a racial problem between Dr. Ramayya’s Whim Group and Mr. Hintzen’s New Amsterdam Group (this problem still exists) he sought to send Mr. Trotman to deal with the issue.
I wrote to him that, ‘your perception that New Amsterdam is Afro-Guyanese based and implied that an Afro-Guyanese should deal with them is erroneous. People must be made to see above races and if you as the leader feel that you should put a Black person in a predominantly Black area, then you are not doing anything to erase that race-based perception…Trotman should not be seen as fostering Black peoples’ interests and Ramjattan should not be seen as fostering Indian interests, if this trend continues then I envisioned a bleak future (not unlike what happened to Jagan and Burnham)’. I further mentioned the fact that Dr. Ramayya did not want Mr. Benschop to speak at a meeting at Hampshire, an Indian community, but as Chairman of that meeting I allowed him to speak, much to the ire of Dr. Ramayya. (I have the e-mail I sent to Mr. Ramjattan.) On December 4, I sent an e-mail to Mr. Ramjattan which reflected my surprise when this same Dr. Ramayya thanked APNU supporters for voting for APNU (DTV 8).
It is now beyond a shadow of a doubt that internally the AFC is crumbling and that Ramjattan’s spineless leadership is being exposed. It has long been evident that there are two opposing factions within the AFC, one which is Pro-PNC and one which is Anti-PNC and they are now moving in diametrically opposite direction. Hence, Ramjattan’s vacillation will only serve to hasten this devastating movement which will result in the demise of the AFC.
NO Democracy in the AFC
The AFC has long ago proven that on a pro-rata basis, it is the most corrupted political party this country has ever seen and just like Mr. Granger, Mr. Ramjattan and Mr. Nagamootoo should never talk about ‘democracy and dictatorship’. In 2012, after a long inquiry into the allegations of corruption, cronyism and rigging of elections by Dr. Ramayya, the Leader of the AFC pushed the findings of the General Secretary, Mr. Sixtus Edwards, under the rug and claimed in a press release that it was about ‘miscommunication’ and ‘misunderstanding’. On April 19th, 2012, I e-mailed Mr. Ramjattan as follows: ‘Ramayya is a dictator who is afraid of critics and does not want to relinquish power…he is not only unaccountable for Party funds but he is now alienating hard-working members….’
Mr. Ramjattan did not reply to this e-mail and on April 23rd, 2012, I then e-mailed him thus, ‘As the Party’s Leader, your silence is deafening on this matter. Where is the transparency and accountability in Berbice? We owe the PPP and PNC an apology’.
Then at the AFC’s Conference in 2012 an inaccurate and unaudited financial statement was foisted upon the undiscerning delegates. I have written exhaustively on this in my previous letters to the media. Moreover, it was at this Conference that the Elections were ‘rigged and fixed’ to get rid of the then General Secretary, Mr. Sixtus Edwards and to facilitate the entry of Hughes and Nagamootoo. Mr. Ramjattan and Nigel Hughes were selected, not voted, for the positions of Leader and Chairman. At that same Conference Mr. Edwards spoke about the need for financial accountability within the Party so they got rid of him. I spoke about that and they got rid of me as well. This is AFC’s brand of democracy!
The AFC and the APNU need to do immediate introspection and evaluate their illogical conclusions about President Ramotar and his Government. His Excellency has made the correct decision in light of the prevailing circumstances and democracy is alive and well in Guyana. The learned lawyers in the AFC and APNU should have studied our Constitution well before embarking of such a self-destructive route.
HASEEF YUSUF
AFC Councillor (Region 6)
