Jagdeo accuses Granger of ‘living in a bubble’ – urges him to answer for lives lost during rigged elections
BRIGADIER (rtd) David Granger will have to answer to the people of Whim today for his delusional contentions and empty promises – a charge made by former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, at a news conference yesterday.
‘Answer for the lives lost’, former president Dr Bharrat Jagdeo charges
The Alliance of A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) will today take its second elections rally to the East Berbice village, in Region 6, one of the ruling party’s strongholds.
According to the former President, Granger “lives in a bubble” within which he maintains that elections were not rigged under the People’s National Congress (PNC), the administration under which he served with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
“Mr Granger has been on record as saying there had been no rigged elections in Guyana….either it is a lie or a time warp or a bubble that he lives in,” Dr Jagdeo told reporters.
Granger has been quoted in the local media as saying, “I’ve said what I’ve said. I have said if things had been wrong, I am prepared to have an investigation. I am not going to apologise on the basis of hearsay or conjecture or speculation.”
However, Dr Jagdeo stressed that rigged elections are not a matter of “hearsay or conjecture or speculation” – rather it is a wrong that has been acknowledged even by the international community.
“The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) website, if you check it, says there were rigged elections. Every foreign government believes it. The Caribbean Council of Churches believes it and I think people of all faiths….Granger says he is a believer; people of all faiths believe that lying is a sin,” the former President chided.
KILLED IN VAIN?
Importantly, the former President noted that it was a wrong that cost lives in Region 6.
Dr Jagdeo questioned whether the lives lost were in vain, given the position that the APNU+AFC presidential candidate maintains.
“Ten miles from Whim, in 1973, two persons, Jagan Ramessar and Bholanauth Parmanand were killed when they tried to protect the ballot boxes from being stolen. They were shot dead…. Nagamootoo and Granger ought to stand on the platform at Whim and say those lives were in vain, say that those men gave up their lives for a lie…tell the people if that was so,” Dr Jagdeo said.
Ramessar, 17, and Parmanand, 25, were shot by soldiers at No. 63 Village, Corentyne, during the 1973 elections, while peacefully protesting the illegal removal of the ballot boxes from the place of poll at the end of voting.
FAKE PROMISES
Dr Jagdeo added that in addition to delusional contentions, APNU+AFC leaders have made many “ra-ra” speeches, but these are without substance and in other cases reflect a total “flip-flop” on positions they maintained strongly in the 10th Parliament.
He pointed to the positions on the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, cuts to the budgetary allocations for the University of Guyana loan programme and opposition to support for the sugar industry, among others.
“These are some of the issues they need to address at Whim, because they will go there again with their ‘ra-ra’ speeches…there has been nothing about policy…far divorced from reality, what we have is a “hotchpotch” of things that sound good on the platform, but when you think them through they really don’t mean much,” the former President said.
Drawing the parallel between the political Opposition and the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Dr Jagdeo made it clear that the Guyanese people have been given “specifics” on the way forward for education, sugar, information communication and technology advances, as well as its social programme agenda.
“The President has outlined policies… specifics, not planned statements, specifics. A lot needs to be answered…these are the things that are important in people’s lives. What happens tomorrow? What happens after May 12? That is what is important,” he said.
The former President gave the assurance that the PPP/C manifesto, which will be released soon, will outline what is a real vision for Guyana moving forward and reinforce the fact that the PPP/C has enabled the Guyanese people to ‘live change’ – making the choice come May 11 a clear one.
‘Mr Granger has been on record as saying there had been no rigged elections in Guyana….either it is a line or a time warp or a bubble that he lives in’- Dr Bharrat Jagdeo
‘Nagamootoo and Granger ought to stand on the platform at Whim (today) and say those lives were in vain, say that those men gave up their lives for a lie…tell the people if that was so. These are some of the issues they need to address at Whim, because they will go there again with their ‘ra-ra’ speeches…there has been nothing about policy…far divorced from reality, what we have is a ‘hotchpotch’ of things that sound good on the platform, but when you think them through, they really don’t mean much’ – Dr Bharrat Jagdeo
(Adrian Narine photos)