Jagdeo’s opposition to a national unity government is not sitting well with some supporters

Dear Editor, The leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bharat Jagdeo has made it very clear to all and sundry that he is committed to issues that will only benefit the PPP politically. He has shown no interest in uniting the races, forming a national unity government or whether Guyana progresses or not. His primary focus is on the PPP winning the election in 2020. In spite of his criticism of the APNU+AFC coalition government and his rejection of a national unity government, President Granger must be commended for his cordiality to at least attempt to engage with him in the interest of the people and the country. But the opposition leader has made it very clear that the PPP will remain a single party and he will only support the government on the border dispute with Venezuela. He will not collaborate with the government to address and solve any of the nation’s problems, include crime and corruption. His objective is to destabilize the government as much as possible by secretly using tactics such as demonstrations. The picketing exercises by the PPP at Whim on the Corentyne a few weeks ago by a few hired drunks and the recent picketing of the Office of the President, the Ministry of Agriculture and Dr. Ramayaa’s office in New Amsterdam by rice farmers were sponsored by the PPP to disrupt the activities of the government. But Jagdeo and his Freedom House gangsters are only making themselves look foolish because there is absolutely nothing they can do to impede the progress of the Granger?Nagamootoo coalition government. President Granger remains firmly committed to a national unity government and Jagdeo will not be allowed to derail his plan. Jagdeo believes that he could dictate to the government in the same way he did to the people for twelve years when he was president. In part, his autocratic rule could be blamed for the PPP defeat at the polls. That said, he has made it clear that it would not be in the interest of the PPP to join the APNU+AFC coalition government and bragged about the PPP being above coalition politics. This reminds us of the statement from Dr. Roger Luncheon about a year ago when he said – “we are not equals” in reference to the then majority opposition not being equal to the PPP government. Now we know that Dr. Luncheon was echoing the sentiments of Jagdeo and others. However, this type of ghetto mentality has no place in society. Shame on the leaders of the PPP for dividing the country along class and racial lines. It will definitely haunt the party in the future because the people will not support it. Dr. Luncheon’s statement is a clear indication as to why the PPP has actually abandoned the poor and the working class for the rich and powerful who were considered the untouchables during its tenure in office. This is in stark contrast to the principles of its founding leader, Dr, Cheddi Jagan. Jagdeo’s opposition to a national unity government is not sitting well with some supporters of the PPP who are fed up with his race-bait style of politics. Many are in favor of a unity government and are supporting the APNU+AFC coalition government. Almost everyone knows that losing the election was not easy for Jagdeo the PPP, but to challenge the elections results and calling the present government a de facto government shows that they are sore losers. Such absurdity is unheard of in Guyana. Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish Singh.

If Jagdeo don't see his cut, he will not participate.

His greed might take him down.  

It's already begun.

What do we need another dictatorship for.  BOTH the PNC and the PPP have sordid reputations, sp the notion that they should be joined at the hip is utterly ridiculous.

 

Guyana needs an efficient, transparent, and effective governing coalition, and a strong opposition which holds them accountable.

 

The PPP will never settle for a ministry or two (as if we do not already have too many ministries), and I really do not see why they should. And they wouild be mad if they didnt think that they should attempt to win in 2020.  That is what political parties try to do.

There should be no unity talks until the present leadership of the PNC party changes.

By the same token, there should be no unity talks until the present leadership of the PPP changes.

If PNC and PPP supporters respectively hold that identical opinion, there will never be unity talks.

There will always be disunity talks as before and now.

Unity will not happen.  That is for dreamers.

 

To the WINNER goes the spolis of VICTORY.

 

That is life.  It is the American way.

Spoken like a true Donald Trump supporter.

Correct.

 

Profit is NOT a dirty word.

Why discuss unity now, the PNC ship is sinking and they need the PPP to share the blame. Since election, the Granger government is busy traveling overseas, running up air miles and not building any foundation for development or creating any jobs. The rum shops are doing good business, young men and women are walking the streets all hours of the day with nothing to do. I can tell you that businesses are closing, foreign investors are running away, the country is tense, as though there is going to be a riot soon. Crime is up.

This unity talk is a sham.  If I were the PPP, I would play this game to the hilt to see where it goes.  If the PPP fully cooperates, the coalition will find an excuse for the talks to fail.  That way the sham will be exposed. That is my bet.

Why don't the PPP play the sham, to see where it leads and shame the government to kingdom come, if its a farce.

More PPP ammo for the next election, but dem rass to stupid to even try.  

Sham or no sham, the brutal truth is that Guyana will be stuck in a socio-economic quagmire if there is no national unity.

Since 1955 the politicians have caused blackman and coolie to be at each other's throat, consuming most of their energies in mutual antagonisms, mistrust and even outright hate. Is it any wonder that in most social and economic indicators, Guyana is near the bottom compared to other Caribbean states?

We have to make a start, even a small start, in removing barriers to national unity. That start has to begin with the political parties talking across the table face to face, and with the populace discussing the matter openly, honestly and with goodwill at ground level.

Otherwise, the next 60 years will be no different than the past 60 years. Deadend.

Gil, you got a magic wand, or hypnosis might work.

How do we move the PPP to act ?

I disagree. Political parties are supposed to be adversarial. If not, where will the checks and balances come from. Maybe the government is seeking to stifle descent. National Unity should be handled at the religious/civic level.

It's not abna babna or abacadabra. This is serious realism. The country is bleeding itself relentlessly. The social haemorrage has to stop. Building big houses and driving fancy cars in Guyana is not real progress. Other developing countries are advancing while Guyana is crawling, thanks to disunity. A house divided against itself cannot stand, whosoever seh dat.

You got to be kidding if you think Granger is losing sleep. All he is doing is proving that the PPP have sour grapes, and refuse to engage in prodctive discussion.

 

If unity was important to Granger, he would have sent Harmon, his trusted aid. He sent Nagamootoo  knowing that Jagdeo's petulance would lead to him rejecting any discussion.

U jes did

The two major parties in Barbados NEVER cooperate and enemity even extends to battling WITHIN families where one side might be a "Bee", and the other a "Dee".  A mother who supports the "Bees," will be very hostile to her daughter in law, if that family supports the "Dees".

 

No need to tell you that a little scrap of coral rock is as close as any Caribbean nation is to developed country status, surpassing several nations in Europe, in terms of its standard of living.

 

The worst thing that will happen to Guyana is if the PNC thieves gang up WITH the PPP thieves.  All I want us for them to exchange ideas in a civil manner, and hold each other accountable, to ensure that they walk on the right path.

Kaz, political parties are supposed to be adversarial as far as politics go. But when political parties use race against their adversaries, we are on dangerous, damaging and deadly ground. Guyana's political curse is race politics. We have to climb out of that political crab barrel and deal with politics on the basis of issues, political issues, economic issues, social issues, etc.

How can any sensible person regard the PPP as an Indian party with all the non-Indians involved in it. Likewise how can any sensible person regard the PNC as a Black party with all the non-Blacks involved in it. These Indian/Blacks lamentations are unnecessary. The government should be dedicating their energies to fixing all the ills they claim the PPP left. Unless Granger thinks he is the Christ.

I was expecting national unity to be brought about by the coalition government.  Yes, I know that the PPP has majority Indian support so in theory it will be needed for "national unity."  However, I am not sure if I fully agree with this concept.  I think any government in charge has all the cards to bring about national unity.  National unity will be achieved when everyone starts feeling good about the economic and social conditions in the country.  People vote like sheep at the polls but between elections they hope for the best.  Unfortunately, this coalition government does not impress me with what they have done so far.  What can you point to as an example of good vision for the country under this government?  The first thing they tried to do was to give themselves raises "to stop themselves" from being corrupt.  The "cost of government" is far too high for a country Guyana size.  Talk about subsidizing sugar when the government bureaucracy is the biggest drain on that poor country.  Guyana needs a truly inclusive government that will be accepted by all people...the coalition chances are slipping away.

 

Gil, I will be extra busy for a while so I will not be participating here fully for a while.  I like the discussion but I don't want to get tied up.

When the PPP was ruling, the coalition (then opposition) voted against everything the PPP proposed in parliament. Why the PNC believe this unity talk will be easy? I know that this unity government is a farce and nothing more than a campaign gimmick to satisfied the foreign ABC countries. Satisfying the Guyanese people is a not a priority.

If the government wants to ensure that all Guyanese are adequately represented in the National Assembly, they should dedicate all the energy to fixing the Constitution that allows the government to neglect large segments of the population.

Any that why the talks is a sham.  This is just pure politics.  It has nothing to do with Guyana's interest.

Kaz, don't be fooled by the multi-racial faces in Freedom House and Congress Place. In a parliamentary democracy, a political party's shade and weight is based on the votes it earns in general elections.

There is no doubt that the PPP gets the overwhelming majority of Indian votes and APNU gets the majority of black votes thru its PNC component. The recent election showed that glaringly. Indians voted impressively for the PPP, depriving APNU+AFC of the 12% votes that Nagamootoo promised. Jagdeo himself said that much.

You're always welcome to a nice decent chat, VP.

That doesn't get fixed by the government asking the opposition to join them in unity. There is really no meat in that whole drive. Get the constitution fixed to facilitate a representative government so everyone gets piece of the pie. Outside of elections, people in the street don't see the races as pronounced. Most of my bike friends were blacks when I lived in Guyana. Even in America, political campaigning gets ugly. Remember Hilary or maybe it was Bill who tried to plant the idea that Obama was Muslim and terrorist. Sarah Palin certainly said it.

It was Hillary who said that about Obama.

The AFC/APNU government is a farce.  After 4 months they showed that they cannot run the country with their ineptness. So they want to form a Unity Government.  WHY?   They claimed that they were unified.  Was that a lie?

They stole the Government and now they want to legalize it.  Fat chance.