Jagdeo’s Arrogance Destroying the PPP

Sep 16, 2015 Letters

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Dear Editor,
There is a famous saying by George Santayana which goes like this, “those who forget history are destined to repeat it.”  Editor, let me tell you that I will NEVER forget what the People’s Progressive Party Government under Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar put Guyana through since 1998.
Upon reading that former President Jagdeo and the People’s Progressive Parry are touting transparency and public accountability in the online news outlet “Citizen’s” Report, I was shocked, flabbergasted and my jaw dropped to the floor.
Apparently, it took him 23 years to realize that transparency, public accountability and inclusive democracy matter a lot in countries like Guyana.  I could not believe my eyes, I wondered if former President Jagdeo was recently baptized by Pope John Paul or if he is up to his usual political trickery again which has failed him and will continue to fail him and the People’s Progressive Party unless they push the reset button with Jagdeo and the current ruling cabal.
Twist it or turn it, they have not only failed the people of Guyana, they have also failed the People’s Progressive Party membership.  Based on his poor performance in the areas of public accountability and transparency, good governance and inclusive democracy, to use the term transparency with the name of former President Jagdeo in the same sentence is a misnomer.
Arguably, Guyana’s former President has failed Guyana miserably on the issue of public accountability and transparency, not to mention public security and cohesion. It is no secret to anyone that the former President and the People’s Progressive Party Government created an atmosphere of massive corruption, moral degeneration and an intermingling of criminal enterprise, politics and national governance.
It speaks volumes of the state of his mind and the future prospects of the People’s Progressive Party that they did not just lose the 2015 Regional and General Elections in Guyana; they lost credibility with the citizenry, regional and international community.
On October 21, 2013 Kaieteur News published an article with the following headline, “Opposition Leaders says…Document The Heist of Guyana”.  The Heist of Guyana referred to a series of massive public corruption scandals involving the Jagdeo led Government and People’s Progressive Party.  I am one of those who listened and have compiled a file of the scandals laid out in the Heist of Guyana.  Some of the scandals included insider trading and transferring public wealth to private citizens who were either members, close associates or within the employ of the State.
These include: (1) Emails, recorded telephone conversation expose…Jagdeo/Nandlall/Sattaur plot to kill staff and shutdown K/News, (2) Ombudsman’s report exposes Jagdeo’s witch hunt of NBS CEO, managers, (3) The truth about the Bai Shan Lin episode – selling our natural resources to Chinese for next to nothing in return, (4) The Marriot Hotel Scheme, (5) The Berbice River Bridge Scheme/Takeover, (6) Illegally granting radio license to party operatives and supporters and (7) gifting Bobby Ramroop a contract to operate the Guyana Learning Channel- to name one illegality that the Government seemed to have facilitated to benefit Bobby Ramroop who is a known a close personal confidant of the former President.
Readers please note that I have not listed all the illegalities, especially those that surfaced post the May 2015 elections in Guyana.  I have not mentioned the extra judicial killings, political manipulation and virtual collapse of the Guyana Police Force, destruction of the University of Guyana and the climate of fear, animosity and violence that gripped our country during most of Jagdeo’s tenure as President of our beautiful land.
So after regurgitating my meal upon reading that Jagdeo actually knows the word transparency exists, I asked myself what could be behind this new political trick by the former President.  I thought of two main motivations and strategies behind his recently found convenient liking for transparency: (1) neutralize the loss of political, regional and international credibility by adopting a pro-transparency stance which can hardly be argued against by anyone since transparency and accountability and hallmarks of good governance – in other words to save face and (2) to use transparency as a propaganda tool to create the impression that he is a victim of the illegalities that occurred under his watch whilst President of Guyana.  I
n the end, this will fail him and the People’s Progressive Party miserably.  It is sad that a party does not and cannot speak up and out against the miasma this man put Guyana through and what he is currently attempting to do. Daily, his credibility is waning, so what to do, let me talk about transparency and at least they cannot say I/my party is not demanding and in supportive of public transparency and accountability.
My encouragement to your readers is to be ever vigilant and trust not a word or gesture made by our former President Jagdeo.  Imagine we lived in a country where Government Ministers openly pulled and used their firearms to create fear, where a Presidential Advisor upon entering a sporting event with Bharrat Jagdeo got into a street brawl with another patron attending the event, where a Health Minister can threaten to use his ladies to strip and slap a citizen, where Donald Ramotar can threaten to slap or suggest that if Bharrat Jagdeo was there he himself would slap one of our an Indigenous brothers for voicing is concerns about the state of affairs in his community and of the country.  The point I am making is one we all know too well, a fish rots from the head.
Mike Archer

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