The attack against the Coalition for selfish reasons
Dear Editor,
Businessman Terrence Campbell has resigned from A New and United Guyana (ANUG). This is a new political party that he formed with PPP stalwart and former PPP Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran.
In his resignation statement, he referenced a conversation with me. After much inquiry, I’m constrained to add my perspective to this discourse. Intelligence suggests internecine warfare about dual citizenship and Ramkarran’s PPP motives have paralyzed the nascent group. A battle ready leader and general doesn’t retreat under light pressure, unless retreat speaks to conviction about the cause. But I digress.
Last Sunday, Mr. Campbell and I contributed to a Facebook discussion on a post that criticized the Guyana Chronicle for a news story that the author believed was biased against a presumed critique of the Coalition Government.
I challenged Mr. Campbell about his silence or failure to denounce the said newspaper, which under the PPP regime, engaged in an obnoxious character assassination campaign of PPP opponents like me.
He observed that as leaders, we must go high when our enemies go low, and a desire for a new politics. I did not disagree. I however retorted that his silence on PPP abuses compromised his moral authority to speak out now. This was the essence of our frank, amicable, objective and respectful discussion.
These discussions on social media emanate from the no confidence vote and the polarization and instability it has engendered. The no confidence vote was not a normal exercise of parliamentary democracy.
The PPP used this parliamentary mechanism to attempt to criminally overthrow the APNU+AFC Coalition because President David Granger’s illness and overseas treatment created a leadership vacuum and a perception that the government was weak.
The government committed no unlawful act or political malfeasance; hence, there was no constitutional legitimacy for a no confidence motion. Opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo brought the motion, singularly, to exploit the President’s illness.
The PPP calculated that the government has lost some support among the people and that, with the President being ill, they can force a snap election and win. Jagdeo and the PPP are desperate to get their hands on government resources and the country’s oil revenues. They will do anything to succeed, including destroying our country.
This is why the PPP allegedly orchestrated for government MP Charrandass Persaud, a multi-million US dollar bribe to vote against the government. That alleged criminal act is treason.
No government will allow itself to be overthrown by criminals. No government will allow itself to be ousted by an act of treason. This was not a legitimate no confidence vote. It was the execution of conspiracy that involved bribery of a double agent to bring down the government in Parliament.
Having attempted to commit treason, Bharrat Jagdeo and his PPP conspirators are feigning a call for the government to resign. Many, including Ramkarran’s new party, RISE etc, have jumped on the PPP bandwagon, because they want the government to collapse. They don’t believe that certain segments of the population should govern Guyana.
They have made a serious miscalculation. The APNU+AFC Coalition has hundreds of thousands of supporters. They have ignited a simmering underground volcanic activity that may have awaken the spirit of the Jamaican maroons in Guyanese. Heaven helps Guyana if it erupts!
Coalition supporters will not allow the PPP to threaten our democracy. The Coalition Government will not be bullied out of office. It is a democratically elected government that was elected by the people for a term of five years. It will serve out its five-year term unless otherwise determined by the courts.
Guyana was in relative stability until the opposition PPP decided to attempt to overthrow the government. In one fell swoop, the PPP sunk Guyana to the brink of chaos and political instability. They want to destroy our beautiful country in order to gain power.
The people who conspired to overthrow the coalition government will fail. They should also read the writing on the wall. Guyanese are mobilized against them. The people will endeavour to defeat the PPP in the next elections, whenever it’s called. If by chance the PPP wins an election pursuant to the bribery that brought about the no confidence vote, our democracy would have failed, and they should not be allowed to govern either.
Furthermore, this should be clear to the people who are invested in defeating the Coalition Government. You’re in for a hell of a ride! Democracy will triumph over criminality.
Rickford Burke
