Guyana plagued by politics of domination and vendetta – AFC’s Nagamootoo

By Kiana Wilburg Leader of the political opposition, David Granger is of the firm opinion that political competitiveness is imperative to

AFC Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamotooo

every nation for it ensures good governance. But what is the state of this competition and how does it affect the electorate? In answering this crucial question, Granger recently opined that the competition has degenerated to one that reflects open conflict and antagonism and it has become such, largely because of the government. This, he said, has a negative effect on the electorate. In support of his perspective, Vice Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Moses Nagamootoo also said that the current state of political competitiveness in Guyana has affected the citizenry. He stressed that politics should always seek to inspire rather than what it is being used to do by the current administration–to suppress. Nagamootoo said that politics is supposed to be transformational and incorporates qualities such as equality, integrity and the goals and directions of the political leaders. He said however, that if the basis or the qualities which are supposed to fuel that purpose of politics is replaced with selfish motives, corruption and a winner-take-all attitude, the scope of the political atmosphere will certainly change for the worse. The AFC Parliamentarian said that what is taking place is that government has brought the political competition to such a level that ever so often the citizens are subjected to endure a “politics of vengeance.” “We have obviously seen the cases where the government misused its organs because it was fuelled by malice and it wants to silence those who speak or represent the truth and want to share that with the people. For example, we have seen emails between high-ranking government officials which were published by this newspaper and which obviously exposed a plot to shut down the Kaieteur Newspaper simply because the Newspaper and its publisher stand firm against abuses and executive lawlessness. This is the use of authority in a vindictive way and this kind of behaviour has been extended to the political opposition who were elected to represent the people. The government does not like political competition simply because it would seek to ensure good governance. It would call on them to answer to the people. They are highly opposed to that,” Nagamootoo stated. “Guyana is plagued by a politics of domination and vendetta.”