The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) says that there is no political crisis facing the country. Through a statement read by General Secretary, Clement Rohee th party expressed its amusement with the claim which was made by the People's National Congress(PNC) led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). Read full statement below:
The People's Progressive Party (PPP) is amused by recent pronouncements made by the opposition APNU that the country is faced with a political ’crisis’.
It is clear that the main opposition party is either suffering from a severe bout of political amnesia or is being deliberately dishonest in seeking to invoke a situation of 'crisis' when the facts suggest otherwise.
Perhaps Mr. Granger may wish to spell out in precise language what in his view constitutes a political 'crisis' especially since his statements defy any rational or logical explanation of the term. An objective analysis of the current situation reveals that Guyana's economic and political bill of health has never been better and that the country is currently experiencing a period of economic and social progress never before experienced.
Whatever 'crisis' exists can only be situated in the psyche of the PNC and the Granger-led APNU and cannot be supported by facts. Our country today is enjoying relative peace and stability and enjoys the full confidence of the international and donor community.
This incidentally is in stark contrast to what obtained under the previous PNC regime when the country was reduced to a pariah state. Economically, the country was reduced to the poorest in the western hemisphere, on par with Haiti. A past which no right thinking Guyanese is proud to talk about.
The PNC and Granger ought to know that there is a nexus between political democracy and economic development. The lack of political democracy under the PNC regime led to a production crisis which in turn resulted in a social crisis of unprecedented proportions. What all of that translated to was a crisis of confidence in the then ruling cabal. Guyana was declared uncreditworthy by the IMF and therefore ineligible for further IMF loans.
Today, all of that has changed. Guyana is today a proud and respected member of the community of nations and has now become recognized for the several initiatives it has taken at the international level especially in the field of climate change and poverty reduction.
The PNC is no stranger to crisis situations having landed this country from one crisis to another. Now in the opposition, it is continuing to use Parliament to undermine the rule of law and constitutional governance in a vain but unsuccessful attempt to create political chaos. The Granger led PNC is doing everything within its power to partner with criminal and rogue elements in our society to undermine the security interests of the state with the aim of concocting a situation of 'crisis'.
The PPP is neither unaware nor unmindful of the PNC’s potential to create mischief in our society reminiscent of the X13 plan. However, our Party has every confidence in the maturity and wisdom of the Guyanese people to reject and condemn the intrigues and machinations of the political opposition, more particularly the PNC which since the early sixties sought to create 'crisis' situations but such attempts were always thwarted by the collective will of the Guyanese people.
Fresh in the memories of the Guyanese people were the attempts made by the PNC to deny the will of the Guyanese people when the very PNC refused to accept the results of the free and democratic1997 elections despite the fact that the elections were declared free and fair by local and overseas observers. The PNC took to the streets and created mayhem in the city of Georgetown through recourse to thugs and criminal elements forcing the duly elected PPP/C Government to cut short its term of office by two years under a CARICOM brokered peace accord. The race hate generated by the PNC against President Janet Jagan described as the ‘white American” reached unprecedented height in our country.
Earlier, in the elections of October 1992, the PNC refused to accept the results of the elections and took to the streets inciting all manner of disturbances and violent political behaviour. Were it not for the physical presence of former US President Jimmy Carter and members of the Carter Centre in the country at the time the PNC would have been emboldened to do what they always did since 1968, which was to hijack the democratic will of the Guyanese electorate and re-install itself to political power.
The PPP calls on the Guyanese people to be vigilant and not to allow themselves to be duped by the hypocritical calls made by Granger and his APNU for Local Government elections when it has consistently violated the democratic rights of the Guyanese people both in and out of power. Today, it is shedding 'crocodile tears' about the necessity of holding local government elections when it never in its twenty-eight years in government allowed for a free and democratic poll.
The PPP wishes to state categorically that it is not opposed to the holding of Local Government or General and Regional Elections. The Party has always championed the cause of free and fair elections both at the national and at the local levels. Contrary to what is being peddled in opposition quarters, the Party has never shifted from the electorate rather it has always served the electorate and has the proud record of having never lost a democratic election since the 1950s.
The PPP stands ready to embrace the electorate whenever Local Government or National and Regional elections are called. Our optimism is based on the confidence which the people have in the People's Progressive Party since the 1950’s.
source:http://www.newguymedia.com
