Dear Editor,
And just like that, we were wiped from the country. Erased, relegated to the position of insignificant, non-existent. After reading Mr. Nigel Hughes’s excuse and possible justification for ‘elements’ trying to manipulate region 4 numbers to ‘win’ the elections, I realized that there was no room for me in his narrative.
I don’t identify as Indo or Afro Guyanese. I don’t identify with any political party. I’ve always felt Guyanese. Proud not to be able to trace the exact race of my father, my paternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother. Proud that they were so mixed, they were claimed by none. Whatever you see when you look at me, is yours to decide but my feelings on the matter are fixed.
My vote belongs to my conscience only, not to any political party, creed, race or person. I voted for APNU+AFC in 2015 because I thought the PPP government had made a lot of mistakes and had become too corrupt in the previous years.
In 2011, the AFC offered a team of united Guyanese of many varied races and backgrounds who campaigned on accountability and competence. It seemed to be the start of something hopeful, inclusive, and progressive; the idea that a capable group of Guyanese could influence policy based on merit rather than race or relationship.
In 2015 for the first time in my adult life Guyana’s people had the opportunity to vote on the idea of hope. Hope for something new and different from the traditional race based voting patterns. The joining of APNU and AFC was exciting for me and Mr. and Mrs. Granger charmed me. I believed that I was voting for a coalition of Guyanese committed to the advancement of the country as a whole and not just self-interest.
My vote was able to tell the PPP government that we were dissatisfied with their performance and that they were accountable to me and we as a nation voted them out. Many of us voted the PPP out not because of race but because of merit. Make no mistake there are many like me. You can’t tell who we are because we are not identifiable by the shade of our skin or the texture of our hair.
The allure of 2015’s hope quickly faded, our elected President Granger quickly receded from the reach of the people. As a non-politically associated member of society, I can only comment on my experience as a citizen. APNU+AFC made many missteps in their time in governance which eroded my faith that they were capable leaders.
As March 2nd, 2020 ever so slowly approached this government gave me many things to consider.
The D’Urban park project. This was exorbitantly costly and lacked architectural vision, competence and skill in execution. A sign of things to come.
After just five months on the job, APNU+AFC approved a 50% pay increase for themselves. But yet, other vital public servants like teachers and nurses got minimal increases. Couldn’t you have waited a year or two, even as a symbolic gesture?
The discarding of 7000 sugar workers from four different sugar factories. That meant that more than 7000 families were affected by a catastrophic loss of income. Families that were already on the brink of poverty (sugar workers don’t get paid like government ministers) were now entire communities filled with unemployed families in poverty. You don’t have to be an expert on anything to know that mass unemployment in any community can lead to severe social dysfunction. Couldn’t you have found another way?
The greening of government buildings. How does this bring inclusivity? It only promoted divisiveness. Didn’t they think people wouldn’t notice?
The 2017 pharmaceutical bond scandal. In response to its embarrassing exposure in the media ministers were simply shuffled around. How amazing would it have been had APNU+AFC reached across the aisle and utilized talent from another political party?
The promise of constitutional reform. Did APNU+AFC even make an honest attempt?
Our President’s refusal to grace us with his presence. Yes, he was going through a personal illness but his cavalier attitude to the people that voted for him was glaring.
The Parking meter scandal. $500 an hour for a parking space along with exorbitant fines and an incentivized system that rewarded aggressive and bullyish attitudes by parking officers. How was this even a thing?
VAT on education. How was this considered? Taxing our children’s education was just unconscionable.
The renegotiation of the Exxon deal. The current drop in world oil prices has exposed just how bad a deal we got.
The Fit and Proper scandal. Even with many very reasonable and perfectly credible names shortlisted by the PPP, the unilateral appointment of Patterson as GECOM Chairman suggested that the APNU+AFC leadership were trying to plant those loyal to them in key positions in order to ultimately influence the election process. It is an insult to the people to think that we didn’t notice it. Additionally, this was one of those rare opportunities in the political realm that offered the chance for both parties to actually agree on something. Another failure.
The No confidence motion that shamed Guyana. Did we really need to go to an international court for clarification on simple math and logic? The same APNU+AFC government that used a no confidence motion to initiate the election that eventually brought them to power in 2015 somehow thought that the same opportunities should not be afforded to their opponents. They used all available channels to pervert the legal process and extend their regime’s time in power, actively delaying the right of the people to select their government.
The current Covid-19 response by the APNU+AFC administration. The administration’s first response was to outline the power of the government to, among other things, “remove, disinfect and destroy the personal effects, goods, buildings and any other article, material or thing exposed to infection from the disease.’ Why even include this, especially given the current political instability? Does this not encourage fear instead of trust? Just another example of incompetence and the tone-deaf governance style of the APNU+AFC coalition. To date, many would also agree that the government’s response to this worldwide pandemic has been vague and secretive and noticeably lacks urgency and competence. There is the feeling that the administration is so caught up with trying to rig the elections that they are not paying enough attention to a problem that may already be beyond our ability to contain and control.
Many Guyanese born in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s are not voting based on the beliefs/ideologies of their parents and grandparents (which is why the APNU+AFC were elected in 2015 under the pretty much the same ethnic makeup as 2020). We were voting based on merit. And I truly believe that many, many, many Guyanese voted against APNU+AFC this time around because of one or more of the many missteps they have made in the past 5 years and not because they represent a particular race. Letters from those like Nigel Hughes as well as the actions of APNU+AFC show that there was never any real desire for inclusive governance and many of us, blinded by hope, made the wrong decision in 2015.
We would have grown so much as a nation and as a people if there was indeed a relatively smooth and lawful transfer of power once again as was the case in 2015. The new government would have known that they are accountable to the people, an unforgiving people that would be willing to vote them out in 2025. We, the swing voters, are capable of and willing to vote out corruption and incompetence because our numbers are powerful enough to make a difference. This power can only work when there are free, fair and transparent elections. The fact is you cannot vote out a dictatorship.
If the power of the people to decide who governs them is taken away by APNU+AFC, especially as Guyana moves towards being a more diverse nation, they will be the ones that are guilty of perpetuating and recreating the historical racism of generations past, something that is not nearly as emotionally embedded in the vast majority of generations born in the 1980s and onwards.
The attempt at changing the ‘narrative’ from what is free and fair and transparent to ‘we’re in an unfair race dynamic’ is just plain wrong.
Yours faithfully,
Angelina DeAbreu