Latest update June 3rd, 2026 12:40 AM
Don’t allow Mr. Jagdeo to shift the focus away from his maladministration
Dear Editor,
A lot of the responses to Mr. Jagdeo’s outburst at Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud’s funeral service may have fallen into the Jagdeo trap. Clearly, Jagdeo’s intention is to shift the focus away from the many lawless, arbitrary, unjust and dictatorial decisions he made. The attempt to make it appear as if the attacks on those decisions constitute an attack on the East Indian community must be exposed.
Mr. Jagdeo’s governance style was characterised by contempt for the people of Guyana, regardless of ethnicity. He should not be allowed to increase ethnic tensions. The focus must be on the rolling back of those unjust and arbitrary decisions he made. The struggle is for justice and fair play in the allocation of our national resources, including our airwaves. This struggle must continue.
Mr. Jagdeo’s decision-making was aimed at enriching an elite, inclusive of his family and friends, and the post Dr. Jagan political elite who constitute an emerging new rich and is in the main of East Indian decent. Linked to this elite, is a small opportunist African and others group that is an appendage to the elite. This group enjoys, and is comfortable with, the crumbs that fall from the table of the ruling elite even as it pursues the dominance of the Guyanese society.
It is important to note that the post Dr. Jagan political elite lacks the business ethic that characterised the traditional East Indian business community in Guyana. It lacks the culture of hard work and the capacity to save and be thrifty as part of capital accumulation for the advancement of business. On the contrary, it is a parasitic elite that accumulates wealth through corruption and links to the criminal underworld and all that this portends. Its approach is characterised by extravagance, arrogance and contempt for the poor.
It must be recalled that the Jagdeo-led political elite discriminated against East Indians as well. The scam in the awarding of the contract for the importation of drugs is one of the many cases. The point is that while the African Guyanese face the brunt of the discrimination, the Jagdeo cabal extends the discrimination to the East Indian and other communities once the interest of the ruling elite is threatened. There is need for a united approach against the excesses of the corrupt rich elite.
The Jagdeo regime’s handling of the Amerindian community is indicative of its approach. The regime did not design programmes to empower the Amerindian communities. In fact, the approach is one of creating dependent Amerindian communities to gain the electoral support of the Amerindians. The aim is dominance by the ruling elite over all Guyana – its people and more importantly its resources.
The appeal to racism by Mr. Jagdeo is an attempt to hide his maladministration, and his abusive and arbitrary use of power under a Jagdeo-fabricated cloak of increased anti East Indian sentiments.
Aubrey C. Norton
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