SITUATION IN GUYANA SAYS THE EXACTLY OPPOSITE, THE CORRUPT PPP/C IS DOOMED

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Walking on quicksand

February 25, 2014

 

EVERY PPP/C President since 1992 has had a baptism of fire and not one has been able to concentrate energies, time and resources toward engineering the nation’s future according to the developmental path charted in successive PPP manifestos and the Poverty Reduction and National Development Strategies drafted by the Cheddi Jagan-led Government. The political Opposition has been like the legendary albatross riding on the backs of the nation’s progress, which is evocative of ‘walking on quicksand’ for the Government; but despite this cross to bear, the transformation of Guyana’s socio-economic and infrastructural landscapes within a time span of two decades is nothing short of miraculous. In all those years, development and progress were allowed to continue and escalate because the PPP/C had a parliamentary majority.
And this is President Donald Ramotar’s greatest challenge, in that, for the first time ever, the PPP/Civic Government’s developmental trajectory is embattled in the National Assembly, with every developmental initiative being shot down by the joint Opposition (APNU and AFC). That, coupled with the Opposition’s customary extra-parliamentary destructive escapades, has tested the President’s fortitude to the limit.
However, it is in reflecting on the contributions, immense self-sacrifice, commitment to nation-building and all the attributes of Dr. Cheddi Jagan that one can recognise the genesis of that spirit to endure and prevail over the obduracy and negative dynamics of anti-developmental and anti-national forces bent on circumventing progress under a PPP/C Government, even at the cost of the welfare of their own supporters.

That spirit is and has been shaped by the heroism of Guyana’s foremost freedom-fighter and all who stood obdurately at his side over long, hard, unrelenting years of struggle, who braved and endured much to position this country on a pathway to peace, progress and prosperity. There are many laying claims to have been the founding fathers of the PPP, but it is in the party that encapsulates all that he represented and strove for that his spirit resides, and this is the inherent message sublimated in the continuation of the relentless struggle against the destructive and oppressive forces.
President Ramotar played an integral role over the years of struggle against colonialism and undemocratic forces, until the elections of 1992 heralded the dawn of a new era of freedom and progress for the Guyanese people.
During the dark years when all Guyanese were shackled by under-development and abuse, there was always the enduring hope by the party of shaping a better and brighter future for the Guyanese nation, but this current dispensation in the National Assembly has made President Ramotar’s developmental strides seem as though he is walking in a bog, mired in opportunistic grandstanding and theatrical comedy of errors, which no-one finds humorous, because the resultant somersault in Guyana’s developmental trajectory would have tragic consequences for this entire nation.
The patriots and martyrs of the freedom struggle transcended every divide. The gains and transformative demographics since general elections of October 1992 were nothing short of miraculous, but the dark forces of unpatriotic, opportunistic glory-hunters seem to be prevailing, and to all it seems that the only solution to this impasse that is stymieing and reversing national development would be early elections, so that the quicksand impeding social development and economic growth would gradually recede into clearer waters, where developmental endeavours and initiatives can flow freely into the clear waters of peace, progress and prosperity.

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the biggest achievement for the ppp right now is the opportune to curb the corruption thanks to the AFC. GOD BLESS THE GUYANESE THAT VOTE FOR THE AFC

The PPP is in panic mode. Yugi drink trench water and he getting bassidy.

The PPP/C is suffering from internal injuries

Dear Editor, Let me say first that Moses, the Proverbial Saint, was the Deliverer and on Election Day, November 28, the world will see that Moses Nagamootoo, who, by no stretch of the imagination, can be described as a saint, will deliver the Guyanese, from the clutches of the PPP. I would like draw the public’s attention to the attitude of the PPP now that Moses Nagamootoo is on the AFC platform by using a simple analogy. A man is married to a woman and he drinks a bit. He is the sole bread-winner of the family. Now, during the early days of the marriage all went well and he was very loving and very helpful in the home. Then came a child. He started to come home a bit late on weekends and would be abusive (verbally) when the wife questions him. About the beginning of the third year another child was born. The behaviour continued and one day he slapped the wife. When he came home from work that day, the wife and the children were gone. Of course, they went to the wife’s parents and so he went there and they reconciled, with promises of “no more drinking” and “no more slapping”, the wife returned to her matrimonial home with the children. Things went well for a few months and, slowly, started to get to the stage where the late nights out and the drinking and the slaps were more frequent. The wife left and then refused to return when he went to plead. A few days later he is served with a summons to go to court for maintenance for the wife and the children. Let us look at the man’s attitude at this stage and in so doing we must be fair to the parties. He would come down very accusingly on the woman, saying, “she has a man” or “someone is encouraging her”. His ego and stupidity will allow him to say things like,” she never worked one day since I married her”. He is shocked out of his wits that the wife left and decided not to return. More so because she took legal action against him. The proper thing to do is look at yourself Mr. Man. Withdraw a bit from the male, macho ladder you are on and ask yourself, “what have I done to drive her away?” or “am I that bad that she does not want to come back to me?”. The Nagamootoo saga is no different. Moses has served the PPP for 50 years. His loyalty to the PPP and Dr Cheddi Jagan could never have been questioned. In 2005, Moses Nagamootoo spoke at a meeting in Toronto and expressed serious regrets at the way the Jagdeo PPP treated him, yet, he stated clearly that his loyalty was to the Party. Moses Nagamootoo remained with the PPP/C and helped to give them victory in 2006 at the polls. Let us not forget the clips NCN ran for weeks after the AFC announced that Nagamootoo would join that party. They tried to ‘hustle’ the public with all the propaganda by showing the 2005 campaign that Moses took part in and featured clips on how vibrant he was on the PPP/C platform and now, now we hear cries from the PPP camp from all corners, top to bottom, left to right and even the likes of ‘Mutt’ and ‘Jeff’, that Moses is ‘Namakharam’, ‘he was a liability’, ‘he is no big loss to the PPP/C’. Mr. Jagdeo and the ‘Bulwark’ of the PPP/C, Donald Ramotar, I ask you, in the name of decency and fair play (which will come to you with tremendous difficulty) ask your goons to cut the abuse and derogatory remarks they are making about Moses Nagamootoo. The man had an unblemished record with the PPP and he should be given the respect he deserves. He has a right to choose a Political party to be affiliated to. Withdraw, Excellency, and like the distraught husband, take a look at yourself (the PPP) and then I am sure you will find the fault bearer. Joey Jagan, Robert Persaud, Clement Rohee and the rest in the party who find fault, try not to compare yourself with Moses Nagamootoo, in any sphere, you will not match up in this lifetime. Moses Nagamootoo is not heartbroken because he took what the PPP/C dished him for a long time and tolerated it, and them, for a bit too long. He realized a while ago that the separation was inevitable and he was building up to it so that it does not hurt him. The hurt is now going to be felt by the Ramotar clan. Let me close by saying that the PPP/C is, at the moment, like a man who was in an accident and showed no visible signs of injury, and then he dies a few days later, after he was released from a hospital (like New Amsterdam hospital, where they, so often cannot tell what is wrong with a patient). The man had internal injuries and was bleeding internally. So it is with the PPP/C, now that Moses Nagamootoo has joined forces with the AFC. The PPP/C is reeling in pain and now they are in panic mode!!! Charrandass Persaud

the mud water from the trench is still on him the fool stinks

AFC ran out of snake oil and posts KN Toilet Paper articles from 2011. Funny to watch as the AFC spins out of control.

Like that trench water you drank, cause some brain damage. Is why you flouncing up like duh?

The Alliance For Change (AFC) won a major victory when the Minority Government  agreed to give Old Age Pensioners $10,000 per monthly, and forced it to back off from the pittance it had offered by way of G$20 a day increase.

The AFC was determined to trim the budget, starting with the “fat cats” on million-dollar contracts and perks, to find money for the poor.  This sent the minority government into panic mode and, for the first time in Guyana’s parliamentary history, Ministers and Government MPs went on the picket-line in protest.

The government bureaucrats went on overdrive in their propaganda, and tried to malign the AFC, especially its Chairman, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan. They fooled some ordinary contract workers, telling the big lie that they would ALL lose their jobs; and used them as a barricade behind which some of the “fat cats” on super salaries and allowances were hiding.

The Minority Government shuddered at the possibility of a combined opposition using its parliamentary majority not only to trim the budget but reduce VAT, suspend increase in electricity tariff for Lindeners, set up immediately the Public Procurement Commission to prevent waste and corruption, etc. It therefore sought to divide the opposition.

It is in this context that the AFC is baffled that APNU has chosen this historic moment to go into bed with the PPP, and make what appears to be secret deals.

The APNU/PPP engagement is viewed with suspicion firstly, that the AFC was locked out from the “talks” and secondly, when it appeared that a “deal” was struck, the door was opened for AFC to legitimize the back-room arrangements.

We want to make it clear that AFC was not a party to the exercise of placing Parliament at the feet of the Executive, and working out deals with the President when all concessions ought to have been made on the floor of Parliament, in keeping with transparency.

Some leaders of APNU have expressed a concern that budgetary cuts could result in loss of jobs. But this was never what the AFC was about. We demanded that Government provide us with the salaries of the 25 highest paid in each department, including advisors who enjoy multi-million packages, and Government refused to do so. We also identified areas where no explanations were provided for billions of dollars in expenditure and decided on cuts if no satisfactory answers were given in Parliament.

The AFC also wanted to restore professionalism to the Public Service by allowing educated, trained and skilled Guyanese, especially the young, to openly enter the public service on the basis of their qualification and merit, and not via back-door connections. We wanted to grow the labour sector in a disciplined way, and allow it access to trade union representation, collective bargaining, pensions and other retirement benefits.

Because of our clear and unequivocal position, at least one Minister has made a commitment to encourage recruitment through the formal procedure, in the future.

We want to make it very clear to you the people of Guyana that it was the AFC’s position during the budget debate, that the scissors be used in judicious cuts on the bloated government’s bureaucracy, on excursions abroad, extravaganza and billion-dollar projects not approved by a procurement commission.

Our goal was to secure jobs by bringing employees into the civil service where they would have union representation, thus preventing the government from using them as their tools, or firing them as they see fit. In other words, we want to put an end to PPP cronyism and nepotism.

Further, the intention of the AFC was to find the billions of dollars of tax payers’ money which the PPP Minority Government has allowed to be kept in so-called “company” accounts, like NICIL; or hidden away in slush funds in several inaccessible accounts. We want all moneys including those coming (initially $5 Billion) from the sale of Guyana’s share in GT&T, to be placed in the Consolidated Fund.

If we grow the national pie, there would be enough to go around, and to make life better for our workers, pensioners, and other marginalized and disadvantaged folks. No more should this Minority Government be allowed to say glibly that it cannot afford to pay more, or repeat like a parrot the old, broken, song, “the next five years” in which to expect better.

We welcome the increase in old age pension, but the struggle continues for a decent social assistance envelope, and for income tax to be cut incrementally, from this year, by just over 3%.

The APNU/PPP dealers know that the AFC will not dance in their party unless we can openly discuss these burning issues, including reduction of Jagdeo’s presidential pension plan (J/PPP).

As for the people of Linden, AFC applaud their struggle and say to them that we remain firm on our commitment to suspend the increase in electricity tariff whilst pressing for new jobs for the people in their rapidly depressed community, to restore their access to television service, remove the dust nuisance, etc.. But we will not get into their politics. It is up to Lindeners to decide whether or not APNU has turned its back on them.

It became clear that the PPP is afraid of the combined opposition. During the elections campaign it had generated fear among Indo-Guyanese that AFC was “in bed” with PNC. During the budget debate the PPP condemned AFC and praised APNU. That was the set-up for the back-room engagement. Simply put, we are witnessing the colonial politics of divide-and-rule in its worse permutation.

The AFC continues to stand on a ground of principle, not to surrender Parliament to the Executive, and to prosecute the fight with dignity. We welcome the support for the good cause from Mr. Lincoln Lewis, the leader of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, and we are encouraged by thousands who now proudly exclaim, “Stay on course AFC!”

In the next round, we expect that APNU will not disappoint the people on the issue of stopping waste of their moneys on propaganda machines like GINA and NCN. Even if we remain alone, we will not stand down in the fight against ‘pork-barrel’ projects, sweetheart deals  and abuse of freedom of speech and equal access to the state media, including Chronicle, which daily malign and assassinate the character of AFC leaders with apparent impunity and recklessness.

The AFC will not succumb to any pressure to compromise with the PPP or bargain away the rights of the poor, the working people and our industrious patriotic business class. We will continue to fight to cut some $3 billion of taxpayers’ money from exorbitantly priced projects that would not be of benefit to low income earners and are often done below standards. We will not deviate from our position, even though we may be the only Movement to take a principled stand.

A luta continua!

http://afcguyana.com/afcnew/?p=3648

BAI you feel like ram come to LANKA

There is a better chance of the PPP retaining its majority in the parliament than the opposition holding on to their slim majority. The PPP just have to get off their complacent behinds and be more aggressive.

Correct.

More aggression and taking care of their political base.

how more aggressive can they be shoot some more black people,or send minister SINGH to kill people on the road other wise the ppp is clueless of how to unite and developed they all were train in communist ideology