Can Donald Ramotar and the PPP/C be any more naive?

Dear Editor,
With the recent uproar by Donald Ramotar and his Maharajahs, about the efforts of combined Opposition in relation to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill being respectfully voted down, I wish to express a few sentiments.
Firstly, I would like to fully support Lincoln Lewis’s article “A price we must be prepared to pay”, and I must say that Donald Ramotar is 100 percent accurate when he says “it can’t be business as usual”. For it is too long, that we have let the PPP/C administration continue to terribly fail our nation year after year. I wonder how much toiling has Papa Cheddi been doing in his dear grave, in view of how distorted and corrupt the party he founded has become.
It is a very sad story when the custodians of our beloved country have outgrown any sense of common decency and morality, when corruption has been institutionalized in every corner of our society, when the largest violators of the law are the very ones protected by the “law”, whilst majority of the population struggles on a daily basis just to survive.
It is clear that the PPP/ C is bent on playing dirty politics with the minds of my fellow Guyanese brothers and sisters, when all that the combined Opposition is trying to do is ensure that it can no longer be  business as usual. No longer will we sit back and take the ride, no longer will we allow our constitutional rights to be shamelessly infringed, trampled upon and violated, and no longer will we allow ourselves to be used as political donkeys. It’s really sad when you hear a minister of government cast remarks which only serves to divide, to incite fear and hate and to destabilize our country. Leslie Ramsammy’s remarks of  sabotaging Guyana’s democracy, about denied democracy for almost three decades, the oppositions’ natural inclinations to subvert freedoms and democracy  and linking the Oppositions position on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill towards support for criminal activities, are completely baseless and dangerous.
The combined opposition has clearly stated their reasons for not supporting the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill at this point in time and are aware of the consequences, but time has come to act, it cannot be business as usual, and we must deal with matters of utmost priority first, we must get our own house in order. The sooner Ramotar and his Maharajahs realize this and get it in their thick skulls, the faster we will be able to get back on track with the peoples’ business.  And, yes Ramsammy, we can pick and choose, you and your colleagues need to know of your mandated responsibilities to serve the people of Guyana, and not to force us to believing that the combined Opposition does not have the interest of the Guyanese people at heart, while you try to force legislations in place, all in a bid to cover up the atrocities of your regime and to make you appear to look impeccable in the eyes of the regional and international community. Any right thinking international body or agency, or country can relate to the need to fix internal issues first, issues which pertain to the denial of our fundamental and constitutional rights. So, it is time for Ramotar to simply convey that message to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force to start with.
When one listens to what people like the Attorney General has said in relation to the bill, it only serves to reiterate the PPP/C’s approach to governance. Anil Nandlall in essence of his speech acknowledged the shortcomings of the bill, but pleaded that the bill be passed just to meet the CFATF deadline. No Mr. Nandlall, not just for the sake of expediency, to pass it now and make amendments later, really?  When we look at the many failures that the PPP/C has singlehandedly caused the people of Guyana in the way they go about projects, such as the hydro falls project, the Supenaam and other ferry stellings, the Skeldon Sugar Factory, and the list can go on and on. Obviously that heavily flawed approach cannot get the support of the Guyanese people, we believe in the need to get it right first and not afterwards or later.
Then there is the Finance Minister saying that he “will not be muzzled.” Indeed, Mr. Minister, please feel free to let us Guyanese know why the Public Procurement Commission has yet to be implemented, when it is blatantly in violation of our laws. Why Mr. Minister, feel free to speak, don’t be “muzzled”.
Additionally, there was the Godly Minister, Bishop Edghill with his two peas of decree, speaking of “ betrayal of monumental proportions.” Please, Mr. Godly one, enlighten the Guyanese public what “ betrayal of monumental proportions” can we consider the Sanata Complex Deal, The Berbice Bridge Scheme, The Marriott Scheme, The Radio and TV licenses giveaways, the New GPC and Bobby Ramroops’ corrupt dealings with the sale of drugs to the Government.
And finally, Mr. President, please feel free to let the Guyanese people know what the real consequences are and what the “worst form of economic sabotage” is in relation to the many many shady deals that your predecessor Bharrat Jagdeo has institutionalized, which are out in the open, which are designed to continuously enslave the majority of Guyanese while make only a select few princes and princesses, but which you choose to say or do nothing positive about. I think you will not do anything about those atrocities and would prefer to be seen as a puppet that lacks the testicular fortitude to do the decent things in the interest of the Guyanese people. You and your Maharajahs must know that the malas (garland) are becoming shorter and shorter by the minute.
And in ending I think the answer by many other Guyanese to my question “Can Donald Ramotar and the PPP/C be anymore naive?” is a resounding YES.

 Mahesh Singh