The PPP has fallen in popularity all across the country

DEAR EDITOR,
In Guyana like in many other countries, life has many good things for one to enjoy. The problem is that most of these good things can be acquired only by sacrificing other good things. Most Guyanese have recognized this in their daily lives. But it is only in the PPP that this simple, commonsense fact is routinely ignored.
The plunge of the President and the PPP’s popularity as illustrated throughout the country has confirmed what has been widely known for several months now. Indeed, the news of the PPP’s fall from grace is discussed in the markets, banks, barbershops, supermarkets, and in other diverse places where ordinary Guyanese have unscripted and unvarnished conversations about their worsening financial state and deplorable living standards.
The level of despair across the country is profound. Thousands, especially they youths are out of work, many for years, and are surviving by the goodwill of family who are only marginally better off economically than themselves. A large section of the population is marginalized by the PPP and thousands, who have no economic alternatives, constantly check their cellphones with an obsessive-like expectation for a message to confirm that a US$20 or a US$50 has been sent by a relative or a friend in the Diaspora to buy food or send their children to school for a few more days.
The fact that 65 per cent of Guyanese are saying that unemployment is their most pressing problem takes no great leap of imagination to digest. They see it and feel it every day; the social malaise that is the natural consequence of high unemployment in Guyana is there for all to see — except, of course, the blind political gang at Freedom House whose noses are tightly fastened in the trough.
While some of the PPP spin doctors blame poor communication for the precipitous plunge in popularity of the president and the PPP, they seem not to understand a single reality. That is, they cannot continue to communicate pie in the sky and achieve the political result of fooling all the people all the time. Most people, especially supporters of the PPP, will ultimately believe what they feel in their pockets and see in their dinner plates more than the PPP propaganda.
While the PPP cabal speaks glowingly of the net international reserves and the economy being in good shape, the poor are starving and others are dying at the public hospitals due to a shortage of qualified and experienced doctors and a crumbling health care system. Thousands are struggling to pay their electric bills, not because of ‘wutlessness’ but because the minority PPP regime seems preoccupied with four things: kick-backs, propaganda, distortions and untruths.
People by the thousands are beginning to ask: How can we benefit from all the sacrifices we have made?  When will we begin to see improvements in our own personal lives? What has happened to the 10,000 jobs promised by Mr. Ramotar during the 2011 election campaign? And several students are wondering whether they have wasted their time and their parents’ money at UG.
Applications are being sent by the hundreds, only to be told that the position has been taken. Is this the ‘New Guyana’ that Jagdeo built? The people are desperate for real opportunities, real jobs where they can earn near decent salaries to afford a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. But cronyism and nepotism have infected all the institutions, with few if any exceptions.
This type of politics determines who gets what, when and where—the cushy jobs, the best contracts, government favours and the economic and financial connections. The current economic policies being vigorously pursued by the PPP regime are flawed, in that they have not enabled people to escape their poverty.
The PPP has so far demonstrated little in the way of ability to take Guyana forward. Its inability to collect garbage in Georgetown and across the country, provide decent and timely medical care, provide proper education, offer security and protection for the most vulnerable of its citizens, and create an environment that facilitates the pursuit of happiness, confirms its utter failure.
If Guyana is to emerge from the doldrums in which it finds itself because of the PPP, it needs a new government; one that is capable to build and grow the economy, create jobs, reduce crime and corruption, restore hope and confidence among the people and radically change the constitutional arrangements that are in place.
The facts speak for themselves. The goal is not only to save the country, but also to save the lives of the men and women who toil very hard every day and who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that is spent carelessly means that their lives will be so much more impoverished. But every dollar saved and spent prudently means that their lives will be so much more abundant.
Asquith Rose and Harish Singh