The days of the dictator are gone

Feb 20, 2012 Letters

Dear Editor,
Please allow me space to have my say on the accusations and outbursts made by the newly elected, President Donald Ramotar.
Firstly, I would like to suggest to the President that he has not done badly. As president of this country, he has gone down in history as the first President to sit in the High seat with a minority.
That, in itself is incomprehensible, un-conventional and gut-wrenching to the PPP/C. It is not easy to understand let alone accept and digest. It is a fact so Mr. President, however short your term is ( and you can bet money it is not going to be 5 years) you now have to live with the fact that your Government is a minority and you must mentally adjust so that you will learn to live with it.
Secondly, it should be noted that your (and your party’s) disappointment at the results of the election was self induced. You all allowed the then President Jagdeo to brow beat the entire PPP/C team into believing that the People were easy to win over. Surprise! Surprise! Those days are gone.
To scream now about rigging won’t help. In fact, it will further destroy the PPP/C, because it was the PPP/C that had the Billions and was throwing out money ‘like sand’ and they had control over the entire machinery set up to conduct the elections. Learn to come to grips with reality.
You are the Government of the day but the opposition parties (combined) run things. You, Sir, are like a toothless bull-dog. A more appropriate description of your position is (in hunting terms) a ‘sitting duck’.
It is a ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ situation for you, sir. If you continue to rule you can only do what is best for the country (and that the Opposition parties will approve) so you can’t do what Bharrat did and if you move to call an election soon you will not be the presidential candidate.
My very serious advice to you, Sir, is that you have your ministers do things that would be of benefit to the people of Guyana and I am sure that the opposition parties will not oppose those. Self propelling of government officials to the hierarchy is over with.
If it does not seem to be of paramount benefit to the country and the opposition parties buck it then do not cry foul. The days of the dictator are gone.
The reality of a minority government is —that is when there is true democracy—because all the parties must be consulted before the passing of any bill.
It is un-questionable that the late Burnham was a dictator but the dictatorship of Jagdeo makes Burnham look like an altar boy. Face facts Mr President. You must consult and I will bet money that the passing of a bill to allow for the contingency fund to be replenished will take some doing.
Why was so much money spent or should I say overspent. Think of the word ‘accountability’ and we can move on.
Mr. David Armogan, Chairman of Region 6 seems to be taking instructions from the honourable President and that could further damage the already shattered image of the PPP/C.
He was on TV and instead of looking to address the issue of flooding he was very critical of the voters. He claimed that they are people who acted on lies the AFC and APNU pedaled during the election campaign and he went on to say that should an election be called now the very people will vote PPP/C because they are sorry for what they did.
Both Mr. Armogan and President Ramotar are in leadership and very important positions and they should both put the elections aside and focus on the job to be done. I will posit that should an election be called ‘soon’, Mr. Ramotar will certainly not be the presidential candidate but then anyone who has been around Mr Robert Persaud will know that.
Be aware of the money that was spent on the last election and the abuse of state media and then reflect on the results and simply ask what will be the result if a snap election is called.
My guess is that because the PPP/C has not earned the right to govern for five years, they have to do things to please the electorate because there, most certainly, will be an election in two to three years. Take some lessons from the Canadian Government under Mr Harper.
Charrandass Persaud

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