A missed opportunity

Apr 27, 2009 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Edward Simon continues to ignore the countless wrongs of Mr Jagdeo’s government. While it is his right to defend any party or government of his choice, he must understand that facts are facts.

Mr. Simon sets out to castigate the Alliance For Change for allegedly placing an advertisement in a Trinidad newspaper that points out how undemocratic, among other things, the Guyana Government is. Mr Simon’s letter is published in Guyana’s most undemocratic newspaper, Guyana Chronicle, and is captioned, “The AFC has failed again” (22/04/2009).

In recent articles I have pointed out that there is a lull in the vibrancy of the AFC and other political parties in Guyana. I do agree with Mr Simon that the AFC’s advertisement which was intended to coincide with the Summit of the Americas could be of little effect in bringing awareness to the unfortunate state of affairs in Guyana, to the leaders who had gathered in Trinidad. Mr. Obama and other leaders there including Mr. Chavez of Venezuela would have taken note if the AFC had organised countless Guyanese living there in demonstration outside that venue.

It is indeed a missed opportunity, Mr. Simon. However it must be noted that amidst criticism, the AFC has recently upped their game publicly. It appears to me that if they continue applying pressure there will be huge results coming out of the CLICO debacle.

Mr. Jagdeo continues his mismanagement of Guyana and this is largely due to the ineffective approach of the opposition political parties. Civil society is quiet but this can be understood; it is known that the repressive arms of the government are protected. It is the vigilance of the media, not the ‘government ones’ that spurred Mr. Jagdeo to publicly state that the media is the new opposition.

The opposition parties in Guyana follow the old tradition of election season campaigning. Mr. Jagdeo has two years left from a long, disappointing and failed rule. The pressure must be intensified every day as if elections are a few weeks from now. The columnist Freddie Kissoon understands this and is relentless in his fight to see a democratic Guyana. Lincoln Lewis understands this and also a few of us out there. The opposition political parties must take the lead and let the struggle commence. The urgency of now is most applicable in this context.

Norman Browne