The face of Guyana’s leadership needs to be changed

Apr 21, 2015 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
Having compared the campaign speeches of the leaders of the PPP and the APNU+AFC Coalition, we have noticed that a common trend has unfolded within the PPP. While the leaders of the Coalition have been insightful, visionary, creative and innovative with strong moral authority, those in the PPP seemed devoid of such attributes.
More specifically, the leaders of the PPP lack vision, morality and integrity because they are endowed with cuss-down, vulgar and race-bait politics. Change in Guyana will not take place under this corrupt, brutal and deceitful regime, it will only occur with a change in government on May 11 when the new leaders will begin to empower Guyanese, especially the poor and the working class to identify opportunities for the betterment of their lives.
The face of Guyana’s leadership needs to be changed, and this change must exceed the superficial assessment of political representation based on prejudices and preferences with respect to race and hatred. It must be based on love and respect for one another and on the founding principles of one people, one nation and one destiny, which in Guyanese parlance means “all awe a one family.”
Since Independence, Guyana has passed through many political and economic phases, which required a certain level of leadership at a different point and time, some good and some bad, but none of the leaders of Guyana was as bad as the current and former presidents. And they are the two worst Guyanese have seen in the life of the nation so far, and we do not believe that there will ever be anyone worse than them.
Sadly, under the PPP, Guyana has found itself in a pothole, repetitively attempting to use the same corrupt methods to get things done, but which fail miserably to produce any effective change. The truth is that Guyana has not had decent and authentic leaders for the past fifteen years under the PPP who have been locked into political mind games of playing one race against the other.
During this period, the average Guyanese citizens became like pawns on a chessboard, as they were slowly but surely stripped of their dignity and rights. The PPP has used the power of the state and the people to advance their political agenda, and in the process the people, including many supporters of the PPP, have become casualties of the party’s vindictive inept and corrupt policies which have benefitted only the rich.
Jagdeo and the PPP’s main concern in this election, is how to acquire power and how to manipulate this power to their advantage. In other words, it is Jagdeo who will determine who gets what, when they get it, how much they get, and even where and in what circumstances they get it, and how it must be used. If the PPP wins the election, Jagdeo and not Ramotar will determine who gets government contracts and a large portion of the state resources, just as he did in 2011 when he gave the nation’s airwaves to relatives and friends of the PPP and the largest medical contract to his good friend.
The Leaders of the APNU+AFC Coalition on the other hand, are more concerned about providing the state resources and opportunities for the empowerment of all Guyanese, irrespective of class, race, sex, age, wealth, or political affiliation. They will give an ear to the unheard, offer a helping hand to the poor, furnish better health care for the sick, create good and proper education policies for all, ease the fear of women of domestic violence, and  provide a platform for those who believe they are voiceless and were victimized and abandoned by the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime.
They will provide jobs for the jobless, homes for the homeless, and a secure country for all to live without fear of being robbed or murdered.
Unlike the power-obsessed Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal, the APNU+AFC coalition leaders are more interested in serving the people while ensuring that they grow and are transformed emotionally, intellectually, financially and socially by recognizing and developing their potential.
What the PPP failed to realize is that in this election, the people are no longer docile and they will not allow the PPP to abuse them as they did during the last fifteen years. The people are longer interested in their gangster language, empty promises, propaganda, distortion and untruths. It is clear that the PPP under Jagdeo and Ramotar has no core values, no deep-seated principles and no ethics on which it was founded; only the political rhetoric and propaganda of its campaign manifesto.
Many in the PPP, including Jagdeo, may say that the policies of David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo are bad for Guyana, but it is these leaders’ rich intellect and practical views of change that have been sweeping the country, resonating with the people, who in this election have rejected their empty promises and lies.
The counterattacks of PPP race-based politics by the leaders of the Coalition matter, primarily because they have wisely and strategically created the space for many to change their minds and vote on the issues rather than on race. David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo are transformational leaders with a vision, who have emerged in this particular time to create change through dialogue and to save our beloved Guyana from the hands of the wicked.
What conversation have the leaders of the PPP undertaken in their management of Guyana’s affairs, locally and internationally for the past fifteen years? NONE! All they have done is to bully and dictate to the masses and have used their power to silent their critics, divide the races and to marginalize the other main ethnic group. Not to mention the raping of the treasury, the giving away of the country’s pristine forests to their overseas friends for huge kick-backs, and taking the country’s best ocean front lands for themselves.
A diagnosis of the country’s problems has not only identified corruption from which the PPP politicians suffer immensely, but a proper diagnosis points to the PPP as a dictatorial, vindictive and dishonest regime where acts of corruption, bribery, high level of mismanagement, misappropriation of state funds, cronyism and nepotism are common place.
Guyana is hurting badly from its many problems caused by the PPP and if the people do not find a cure to the problems on May 11, then it is apparent that the country will soon self-destruct and disintegrate.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish Singh

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