Granger blasts PPP for “dangerous race-baiting, vote-buying campaign”

Dec 06, 2014 News

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– Opposition Chief whip to lodge complaint with Elections Commission

By Kiana Wilburg
Leader of the political Opposition, David Granger, sharply scolded the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) for what he

believes to be a campaign it launched that reeks of fear-mongering, race-baiting, vote-buying and malicious lies.
At his weekly press conference which was held at A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) headquarters yesterday, the Opposition Leader told the media that the PPP has launched a “dirty, divisive and dangerous campaign” which seems to be in anticipation of general and regional elections. He made known his disdain for the fact that the party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee has been prancing around the country, issuing ludicrous and libelous attacks on the opposition leaders and their parties.
Granger said that he knew when the government started its elections campaign. He recalled that Rohee said at the annual commemoration at Babu John on March 9, that people were growing restless and uncomfortable politically and “only general elections can change the situation.”
The Opposition Leader said that the PPP, since then, has been deliberately instigating constitutional crises in order to vilify the opposition and distract the population from its own sordid record of corruption and mismanagement. Granger said that the PPP government tried every tactic in the political playbook to prevent the holding of Local Government Elections and preparing for General and Regional Elections, by indulging in “fear-mongering, race-baiting, vote-buying and lying.”
On the matter of fear-mongering, the APNU Leader alluded to the most “scurrilous and obscene” press statement ever issued by the PPP which he said referred to him and his Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge.
He then quoted an extract of the PPP release, “Both Mr. Granger and Mr. Greenidge… would unleash vengeance against anyone they perceive to be associated with the PPP and the PPP/C administration… these threats can only be seen as tantamount to the Demerara River flowing red with blood should the APNU and People’s National Congress (PNC) come

to power.”
Granger firmly stated that such a statement was only manufactured and dispensed for public consumption so that the PPP can breed fear by threatening a ‘blood bath’ if APNU were to emerge victorious at the next General Elections.
With regard to its allegation that the PPP is on a race-baiting campaign, Granger said that the government has been concocting and publishing inflammatory, racist statements in order to influence the attitudes and behaviour of Amerindians and persons of Indian origin.
He said that the PPP, on December 1, falsely claimed that the indigenous population had been “battered” during the reign of the People’s National Congress and that the Opposition was “attempting to disenfranchise the Amerindians.”
Granger said too that the PPP maliciously accused the PNC of being “bent on marginalizing the indigenous population.”  But the Opposition Leader found this to be ironic, since he noted that the PPP has been accused by the Alliance For Change (AFC) of creating “…ethnic and geographic apartheid in Guyana” and of “…stirring anti-African fears, conjuring up the so-called ‘black jumbie’ to scare Indians and to woo them away from the AFC.”
To lend further credence to his allegation that the PPP is also involved in a vote-buying crusade, the APNU parliamentarian told members of the media fraternity, that the Administration has been spending state resources in certain communities in an attempt to win their votes at approaching elections.
“Several Ministers have been spending state funds at a phenomenal rate in order to “buy” votes. The Minister of Local Government and Regional Development unilaterally launched a multi-million dollar ‘clean-up-my-country’ programme. The Minister of Amerindian Affairs has been presenting villages with school uniform material. The Minister of Education waited over six months to start disbursing the $10,000 grant promised to the families of schoolchildren. The Prime Minister and junior Finance Minister have been lavishing netbooks (laptop computers) in several rural communities,” Granger said.
As for the PPP’s apparent affinity with peddling lies, the APNU chief said that the government lied when it described Shaquille Grant, who was killed by the Police, as a “criminal.” He said that this was an immature attempt by the instigator of that lie to show that the Opposition leader was “in bed with the criminal underworld.”
But Granger alluded to the fact that the PPP’s plan to taint his integrity backfired, and that Rohee was forced earlier this week to apologize to Grant’s mother, Shonette Adams for that nasty lie.
He added, “The PPP statement mendaciously went on to claim that “Mr. Granger indicated he will go on a ‘witch hunt’ and through his ‘lynch mob,’ would throw due process out the window.” This is a complete falsehood ¯ a fabrication that was concocted by a sick mind.”
The APNU he said is warning the PPP that its inflammatory language, racial incitement and lies during its campaign, will incite fear and racial hatred. He said that the PPP and its General Secretary must bear responsibility for the consequences of these reckless statements and ferocious behaviour.
In support of Granger’s points, the Opposition’s Chief Whip, Amna Ally said that the government needs to refrain from using state apparatus for political games.
Granger assured that the Chief Whip will be filing a complaint with the Guyana Elections Commission for electoral breaches.
The APNU’s Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Winston Felix concluded that he believes the government is going to the extremes to secure votes, considering that it is losing its stronghold in certain regions.

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