President Donald Ramotar’s insincere appeal to the military for their votes

May 01, 2015 Letters

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Dear Editor,
President Donald Ramotar is not sincere in his “humility” appealing to the military to get their votes. Guyana’s military is advised not to vote for President Ramotar and the PPP. It is under President Ramotar, at a platform he shared with former President Bharrat Jagdeo, his predecessor and chief spokesperson, that the PPP sought to criminalise our professional men and women in uniform, who have served successive governments with distinction and kept the nation safe from external forces.
For the leadership of Messrs Jagdeo and Ramotar to say to this nation that the military will be an accomplice with the APNU+AFC to kick-down citizens’ doors, which gives the impression that persons will be robbed of their valuables, speaks to a political leadership prepared to use any means necessary to hold on to power. What Guyanese must note is that the incidence of former military men engaged in organized criminal activities is a phenomenon of the PPP regime, from Linden “Blackie” London, Steve Merai, Sean Hinds to Sean Benfield, et al.
A brief look or comparison of criminal activity by any military member under the PNC will reveal the most notable crime of PPP embraced former Minister of Home Affairs and now Ambassador Mr. Ronald Gajraj, who was only freed based on a technicality. The criminalization of our military and linking of the political opposition to criminality at this juncture in our nation’s evolution is dangerous and threatens the cohesive fabric of this nation.  It is the usual PPP propaganda to drive their quest to retain power.
It is opportune to note that while the statement was first made in Essequibo by Mr. Jagdeo, it was repeated in Albion by him and implicitly defended by Dr. Roger Luncheon. At no time did President Ramotar come out and distance himself from his predecessor or Cabinet Secretary who is also Secretary of the Defence Board.
The president should not now be appealing to military officers who were called criminals to vote for him. In such circumstances, a vote for President Ramotar by the military would be credence to the criminalisation of officers.
The boast by the government about increased spending for the military is another hoodwinking effort. Guyanese only have to pass by police stations to see how rundown they are. The Police headquarters at Eve Leary, and the GDF headquarters and ground at Camp Ayanagana are scrappy in comparison to previous images. I am advised by military officers and citizens that even in the days when Guyanese experienced foreign currency shortage, the state of our military headquarters has never been like this.
The argument that there have been increase in salaries in comparison to what occurred under the PNC governments cannot be looked only on percentage increase and numbers, but these must be compared with the devaluation of the dollar, inflation, cost of living, and more so the purchasing power of the dollar. Only when a proper evaluation is done taking these factors into consideration and objective comparative analysis arrived at, can the claim of the military being better paid have merit. I dare Mr. Ramotar to do so.
The PPP claim about housing is not new. There is evidence in several housing schemes in this country that privates and constables were able to acquire houses, paying for them and at the same time being able to meet normal financial commitments. For example Stevedore, Melanie, Vryheid’s Lust and Atlantic Ville Housing Schemes private and constables during the PNC administration secured homes that were constructed with a least two bedrooms, proper infrastructures like roads, water, irrigation drainage, and electricity in place. When these houses were completed, persons could have turned their key and entered a complete house.
The PPP has a history of dividing the military. Linden/Region 10 can speak to this issue intimately. In 2012 when we were engaged in a struggle to respect our right to involvement in decision making on a matter that impacted our wellbeing, President Ramotar initially responded by sending in the military. The army came with one set of orders and the police with another. Rather than coordinating activities of the military, these two groups were pitted against each other and the people and the community suffered. Buxton shared the same experience in the early 2000s.
President Ramotar and former President Jagdeo have refused to even accept internal support to modernise and equip the military to improve crime fighting, border security and community relations. The military has been left at the mercy of the Guyanese public who have over the years given moral support, while the government has placed roadblocks in their way to hinder effectiveness and efficiency.
Whenever the PPP is asked to account for poor security they blame the military and lay its inefficiency on its composition. Yet after being in government for so many years the government has failed to create the ethnic balance called for over the years. The military has always been the PPP’s whipping boy. Having gone through all of this it is unwise for the military to ever consider voting for the PPP who never had and will never have the best interest of our service men and women at heart.
The military is encouraged to reject the PPP come Saturday, 2ndMay because neither President Ramotar nor former President Jagdeo cares about you. These gentlemen only want the military vote. A vote is too precious to waste on those who have disregarded you, seeing you only as a voting farm to satisfy their desire for power. The military is urged to give the APNU+AFC the opportunity to change the treatment they have received from an uncaring and self-serving government.
K. Sharma Solomon

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