The PPP and PNC share a commonality of interests in lots of troubling areas

Aug 28, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
After reading Randy Persaud’s infantile letter (“AFC in pickle,” August 25), that sought to besmirch the AFC by linking it to the highly questionable election results of the PNC’s just concluded congress, it’s either the Jagdeo-led PPP regime is running out of people with basic commonsense, let alone exceptional intelligence and capable of presenting enlightening letters or columns, or these people of intellectual standing are willingly sacrificing their professional integrity on the altar of political expedience.
Aside from exposing his puerility, Persaud appears to be the latest addition (Prem Misir and Vishnu Bisram are already on board) to the growing list of writers retained by the Government to defend its indefensible image in the run up to the 2011 elections, and if Persaud’s letter is any indication of the level of their argumentation for the PPP’s re-election, then they all are in serious trouble with intelligent voters.
Now, what does the AFC have to do with the PNC’s allegedly rigged elections? Nothing! What does the AFC have to do with the PPP’s own sham of an election that had certain key players complaining about inside influence peddling to sway support/votes? Nothing!
So what is Persaud’s real motive for attempting to link the AFC to the PNC? Is it not part of the PPP’s campaign to undermine the credibility of the AFC as a viable alternative to the PPP and PNC in 2011?
After all, what the PPP and its Government did each of the last three election cycles (1997, 2001 and 2006) was to pander to the fears of Indians to vote PPP by playing its trump card – the PNC; but in the run up to the 2011 elections, when even Indians are saying the PPP today is not the same as it was under Cheddi Jagan, the PPP and its Government have their work cut out to try and see if they can get Indians to forget their disappointments and see a nexus between the AFC and PNC, so they won’t cross over and vote for the AFC as the alternative to the PPP and PNC.
It is true that the AFC decided to boycott Parliament and went on a street protest, and was later joined by the PNC and other political parties to make a collective point to the international community about the distinctly possible involvement of the Jagdeo regime in the whole Roger Khan criminal saga. But other than the street protest, there was never any collaboration between the AFC and PNC the way this PPP Government and PNC have persistently engaged each other in secret deals on arrangements that continue to affect the everyday life of Guyanese.
After the AFC was elected to Parliament in 2006 with five seats (some say the Government withheld the Linden seat to avoid making PM Sam Hinds look bad), the President and the PNC Leader have met more than once to discuss God-only-knows-what, and deliberately shut out the leaders of the AFC, even though the AFC was a legitimate parliamentary opposition party. Because of the Government-PNC post-92 backroom dealing in the name of inter-party dialogue, we have not had any Local Government elections since 1994, and the Government doesn’t seem bothered that people’s constitutional rights are being ignored.
Because of the Government-PNC backroom dealing in the name of inter-party dialogue, new broadcast legislation is still on hold thereby perpetuating Government’s monopoly on radio, even as the Government boasts about the return of democracy.
Who can forget when the President okayed monies towards GECOM for registration exercises that GECOM gave the PPP its portion and, instead of allocating monies to the PNC and AFC proportionate to their respective parliamentary seats held, GECOM gave the PNC all the money intended for the opposition and left it up to the PNC to distribute.
Given that the PPP and PNC depend on each other to remain viable, that shut out was not an accident or oversight, and we all know why and what happened.
And when the AFC’s current co-leaders resigned their respective parliamentary seats, the PPP and PNC felt this was a dangerous precedent that could undermine control of their respective MPs and affect their respective agendas of absolute control, whether as a Government or political opposition, so they put their differences aside and came together to pass legislation allowing them (PPP and PNC) to recall MPs at will. In normal democracies, MPs serve at the pleasure of the people by being elected by the people, but in Guyana, MPs serve at the pleasure of the parties and represent the parties’ parliamentary interests, not the people’s interests.
Finally, because of the PPP-PNC exploiting ethnic fears and insecurities of Guyana’s two major ethnic groups for over 50 years, Guyana lacks unity and development despite its potential to do far better and despite attaining political independence 43 years ago.
So, for Persaud and those of his thinking, the PPP and PNC share a commonality of interests in lots of troubling areas that the AFC will never dream of sharing, because the AFC is the antidote to the PPP and the PNC!
Emile Mervin

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