The betrayal continues

Apr 04, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The PPP/C will be in office for at least the next seven years. Its political nemesis, the APNU+AFC, has gifted it at least another term in office through the attempt to benefit from electoral rigging.
In 2011, the Guyanese people, including a portion of the traditional PPP/C support base, became so disgusted by the rampant corruption within the PPP/C and its indifferent leadership, handed the then combined Opposition, comprising of the APNU and the AFC, a majority in the National Assembly.
That eventually led to a narrow electoral defeat in the 2015 general and regional elections. The Guyanese people saw through the smokescreen of the APNU+AFC; they witnessed first-hand the authoritarian tendencies of the Coalition; they experienced the ethnic bias inherent in many of the Coalition’s practices; and were appalled at the decision to close three sugar estates and send home almost 7,000 workers.
The ordinary man and woman saw the government impose heavy taxation on them while becoming cozy with the rich. But what really outraged citizens was the secret signing of the Production Sharing Agreement with Exxon, CNOOC and Hess, and the scandalous terms of that agreement which deprived Guyana of an equitable share to its patrimony.
The Guyanese people did not take to the streets in mass protests. Protests always have their problems because protests against the government are often interpreted as implying support for the Opposition, and vice versa. And this has always acted as a deterrent to protests.
The people are not powerless. And when given the opportunity, the people express their power through the ballot. Sufficient numbers of persons who had voted for the Coalition or who had been apathetic in the 2015 polls, decided that it was time to give the Coalition the boot.
And they did, only to see the Coalition attempt to throw the country back to the horrendous days of dictatorship and all the hardships, suffering and oppression of that period. That attempt at the rigging of the elections has relegated the PNC/R and whoever it finds to become part of a coalition to contest the 2025 elections, into the political Opposition at least until 2030.
The Guyanese people will therefore have to live with the PPP/C administration for the next seven years. The fear of a return to political dictatorship, under the APNU+AFC, will act in the favour of the PPP/C. But the ruling party must not take the votes of their supporters for granted. People find ways of rejecting you when you threaten their rights and their livelihoods.
As such, therefore, the APNU+AFC can never again be trusted by large swathes of the local electorate, the PPP/C must not feel that they can run roughshod over the rights and the livelihoods of their people.
The PPP/C has done the unpardonable. It has failed to renegotiate the oil contract, instead claiming that it will claw back benefits in granting permits and licences under the existing contract. It has been presented with opportunities to do so: Payara and Yellowtail.
Its recent approval of the development of the Yellowtail project represents another act of betrayal by the present PPP/C government. That permit should not have been granted unless the issue of royalties and corporation taxes were first settled. Nor should the permit have been approved without further consultations with the people.
The Guyanese people have once again been betrayed. Their children can look forward to a poor inheritance. Moreover, it is that betrayal which may see Guyanese staying away from the polls en masse in 2025.
But staying away does not weaken the oil companies and their political lackeys’ stranglehold on the oil sector. It will only strengthen it.
The Guyanese people have to send a non-partisan signal to our leaders that what they are continuing to do with the people’s wealth can no longer go without protest. It is time for all Guyanese to join in condemning the recent permit, which was granted.
A protest against the recent permit must not be viewed as an Opposition protest. The oil contract controversy is a national issue and all Guyanese, regardless of race or political affiliation, to support efforts to ensure a better deal for all Guyanese.
It is no use saying that you will wait and express your rejection at the next elections. Both sides have been complicit in underselling the country’s national patrimony. It is now time for all Guyanese to reject this latest permit.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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