Opposition takes protest to OP over Su revelation

Jun 23, 2022 News

Opposition supporters demand that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo vacate office to pave way for an independent investigation (photo credits: Sherod Duncan)

Kaieteur News – Leaders and supporters of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) on Wednesday protested the Office of the President (OP), demanding that Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo vacate his office and an independent investigation be conducted into the allegations leveled against him in a damning Vice News report.
In the Vice News documentary, the VP’s friend Su Zhi Rong is heard telling the undercover journalists that Jagdeo collects bribes to get business done in the country.
Speaking to reporters during the public demonstration was AFC Member of Parliament (MP) Juretha Fernandes who insisted that the allegation cannot be merely swept under the rug. “When allegations are laid against leaders within our country, it is our duty as citizens to demand an investigation into the matter. We cannot accept that this should just be swept under the carpet.”
The MP pointed out that in no other part of the world does a person exonerate themselves from an allegation by claiming “based on this, I have been cleared”. Also on the protest line was Opposition members of Parliament Sherod Duncan, Christopher Jones and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley.
Duncan argued that Jagdeo “must go”. He said, “This kind of corruption that is endemic with the PPP, it must go. We have had enough of it and we will take no more. We cannot have this, we know what Jagdeo entails we have two terms of it and then they have come back now with all of this.”
Further, he reasoned that the VP is yet to explain to the nation what exactly he meant when he said that his Chinese friend ‘has all the support’ and ‘handles all the business.’
Jones confidently told reporters, “It says in that documentary that the Vice President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana is involved in corrupt practices in which he takes bribes in order for people to get business contracts etcetera in this country. That in itself will serve as a deterrent to any investor wanting to invest in any country because unlike the PPP, many investors abroad don’t like to be involved in corrupt practices and be involved with corrupt governments.”
Meanwhile, Sarabo-Halley shared, “The PPP has no real interest in ensuring good governance. They have no interest in being anti corrupt…my take on it is that there is not going to be any movement from the PPP without public pressure.”
She also pointed out “when the man said, he was trying to get Jagdeo to decide whether or not he’s gonna take the bribe, Jagdeo did not (object) at that point and said you know what, what are you talking about, I’m not interest in this. This is not what I’m about, this is not what I came here for…he said no Su will handle that. That suggests that there is something going on.”
The MP added that Jagdeo must say how much rent is being collected by Su monthly, as she believes this is one way in which the bribe monies can be transferred. The Vice News documentary premiered on Sunday in which the Chinese friend and businessman, Su Zhi Rong is heard in the interview accusing Jagdeo of allegedly accepting bribes for large developmental projects undertaken in the country. Jagdeo has denied the allegations and has since signaled that he will take legal action against the Chinese businessman and also promised to evict him from his property.

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