PPP General Secretary blasts Opposition for ‘hypocrisy’ on security and law

GENERAL Secretary of the ruling Peoples Progressive Party / Civic (PPP/C), Clement Rohee, noted that the same Opposition that “embraced lawlessness and criminals” at the level of the hierarchy is attempting to spew accusations through “unremitting” misinformation.Rohee said, “…nothing can be further from the truth, for the Opposition’s hypocrisy on security and law and order continues to be unprecedented.”

He was speaking yesterday at a press conference held weekly at Freedom House on Robb Street, where he rehashed historical “facts” that linked the Opposition to positions that were neither in the interest of Guyana nor that of the Guyanese people.

Rohee said: “The Opposition must be reminded that it is the PPP-led government which continues to provide the enabling environment, through re-tooling, training, resources, infrastructure etc., so that law enforcement agencies can better execute their duties.

“It is the PPP-led government that brought to the National Assembly the Firearms Amendment Bill, which will strengthen laws to curb gun trading and related criminal activities.

“It is the PPP-led government that has established the SWAT Unit, which will further boost the crime-fighting capacity of law enforcement.”

HISTORICAL AWARENESS
Rohee said his comments on the issue are made in the interest of setting the record straight. “We are speaking to the facts,” he said. “Those (criticisms) thrown at us are all allegations. In the past, the plethora of politically orchestrated violent acts which were unleashed on innocent Guyanese, and the public pronouncements by some members of the Opposition, would serve to vindicate the Party’s position.

“While is it not the Party’s intention to invoke the painful memories of those who suffered, it feels compelled to remind all of some of the incidents which remain a blotch on our nation’s history.”

Rohee added that the ruling party is also cognisant of how the Opposition “seems comfortable” when it levels accusations against the PPP/C, but becomes extremely perturbed when the PPP/C responds.

“For the Opposition to label as slander these public pronouncements which highlight the harsh consequences some were forced to endure, (it) has once again demonstrated their wanton disregard for the lives and wellbeing of Guyanese,” Rohee said.

CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS
Rohee charged that the positions and actions of the Opposition bring to mind many questions, the answers to which indicate connections to criminal elements.

He said: “The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) would like to reiterate that it is not unmindful of the Opposition’s clandestine connections to drug lords and violent criminal gangs…. Patriotic Guyanese are still grappling with the indignation (indignity) of the national flag, the Golden Arrowhead, being used publicly to drape the coffin of the then wanted criminal “Blackie” in the presence of the then Leader of the PNC and former President of Guyana, the late Desmond Hoyte.

“The encouragement and acceptance of such desecration to the foremost symbol of our nationhood by someone who held the highest office not only remains unforgivable, but is the pinnacle of the embracement of lawlessness and criminals by the hierarchy of the Opposition.

“This is the same Opposition which, today emboldened with denial, is attempting to spew accusations at our party (PPP) through unremitting misinformation. It begs the question: why was a wanted criminal treated with such adoration by the PNC leadership?”

Rohee also referred to the Opposition’s “embracing of ‘freedom fighters’, namely ‘five hardened criminals” who staged a daring escape from the Camp Street prison in 2002.He said, “Following their escape, these so-called ‘Freedom Fighters’ began a reign of terror which gripped the nation and resulted in the loss of lives of innocent Guyanese. Today, many who survived, including children, remain traumatised and mentally scarred for life.

“The brazen and irresponsible broadcasting of an interview conducted by someone from the Opposition camp with one of the escaped bandits, who daringly brandished a high-power assault weapon, not only further drove fear into the hearts of our countrymen and women, but is indicative of the seemingly engendered spirit of fraternity that exists between the Opposition and criminals.

“The party also recalls the now infamous conversation between two current Members of Parliament of the main Opposition, one of whom served in the highest capacity in law enforcement. That chilling conversation revealed the extent to which some of those who are now casting aspersions went to derail interventions, which could have been the difference to save the lives of those who were slain by ruthless gunmen in an East Bank village on that fateful day.”
According to Rohee, this blatant “subversion of preventative action” can only be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to thwart committed officers from discharging their duties, and to shield criminal elements.

Rohee said, “That conversation also unveiled the callous mindset of those in question to clutch at any mechanism to endanger and entrap others in an effort to settle scores and make the PPP/C government look bad.

“Yet, today, this is the same Opposition that condemns the Government’s efforts to continue to secure our nation, but refuse to support the Firearms Amendment Bill and the SWAT Unit.

“Like many Guyanese, the PPP remains shocked as to how and why police evidence in the form of a video surveillance tape from closed-circuit cameras was removed from a crime scene where a prominent businessman was killed on the East Coast of Demerara. It is believed that this tampering of evidence was allegedly perpetrated by a high-ranking official of one of the Parliamentary political parties, who now seems to be embroiled in an alleged fraud that is in the public domain.”

Rohee questioned: “Who was being protected as a result of such alleged tampering? What was the motive? The answer to this will be most useful in understanding the nexus between the Opposition and violent criminal gangs.

“It must be noted that the crime spree alluded to occurred at a time when an entire village was held at ransom by the (so-called) freedom fighters and their protÉgÉs.”

Rohee added that history will reveal the Opposition’s “repeated related actions and its proclivity to swiftly defend criminal elements, while condemning law enforcement who valiantly risk their lives to protect the nation from the violence which surged following the Opposition’s ‘slow fyah, mo fyah’ campaign.

He said, “Those who were beaten, robbed and maimed, and those who had their properties looted and burnt, can attest to such brutality.

“What was even more callous and cold-hearted,” he said, “was for the surviving relatives of the Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek massacres to see lawyers associated (with), and who are part of the leadership of the Opposition, clamouring to defend the perpetrators.”

Rohee maintained that the foregoing incidents are just an inkling of examples of the atrocities perpetrated on the Guyanese people at the hands of the Opposition and their criminal gangs.

He decried the Opposition’s relentless attacks on the PPP/C party while its own actions are demonstrative of the embracement of lawlessness, and called for the focus to be on working assiduously for a better Guyana.
Written By Vanessa Narine