The youth must demand more from the opposition parties

Jul 11, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I congratulate the three political parties, the PPP, the PNC, and the AFC for holding their respective congresses. This is good for Guyana’s democracy. I trust that the other parties will do so within the next three months – namely ANUG and the other parties.  Let us get these meetings out the way, identify the respective aspirants, and start the real discussions.  This country needs to renew its democracy in 2025 and there must be no delay.  GECOM and CEO Vishnu Persaud need to wake up and communicate with the public on the process.

Let me be transparent from the inception, if I were living in Guyana and could vote, I would be voting for the PPP because they project an image of competence, despite the grave weaknesses in the public financial systems in Guyana around good governance. However, there is much room for improvement in how the PPP spends the taxpayer money and the politicians in power must take the lead on cleaning up these skeletons.  Notwithstanding all that I have written, the opposition politicians also have a responsibility to keep them on their toes.

But while I would have exercised a personal choice, I will never seek to impose my choice on anyone else.  Those who live in Guyana truly feel the impact of the cost of living crisis and it is their country and they must speak up. If I were living in Guyana, I would also want my opposition forces to study the big issues and approach them with a sense of seriousness.  I am sorry to say, that I am not getting that from the opposition parties, they come across as disjointed, unaware of the critical issues with some serious conflict of issues challenges (let us reflect on Nigel Hughes).

The biggest debate has to be the economy and the cost of living in Guyana today.  But this debate is missing, save and except for than excellent column in the Stabroek News on the cost of living crisis.  What we hear from the Vice President every week is a one-way conversation. In this one-way conversation, the Vice President buries serious good governance issues and wastes time on frivolous matters.  While he may think this is good politics, his actions undermine democracy.  While I respect the competence and abilities of the Vice President, in the Guyana scene, he can only continue along this path because the opposition seems unable to hold him accountable.

The economy is an outcome of what we do.  Depending on how you govern the public and private sectors and how you govern the interrelationship between these two sectors, you will get a certain type of economy.  The question to ask is, are all the Guyanese people benefiting fairly from the economic bounties and if not why not?

What is clear is the opposition does not understand the PPP economic model.  The opposition has failed to articulate what they will do differently from the PPP if they are to gain power.  You cannot be a serious contender for the prize if you do not get these basics correct.

Let us start with the PPP’s Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF).  Does the PNC Elson Low or the AFC Nigel Hughes or Christopher Ram understand the elements of the PPP’s MTFF?  If they do not then they have lost the race before it has even started.

Does anyone in the opposition know why and on what projects the PPP spent $790 billion of the oil funds since August 2020?  You cannot be the lead opposition spokesperson on finance and not know this sort of information. If you don’t, it means you are not doing your homework and not fit for public office.  Why is this question not being asked in Parliament?

Does anyone in the opposition know that the PPP plans to spend $844 billion of the oil funds on projects between now and the 2015 elections?  Does anyone in the opposition know the name of the projects these funds are being spent on and how these projects are going to improve the socio-economic well-being of the man in the street?

Does anyone in the opposition know that the PPP plans to spend $1,855 billion of the oil funds on projects for the new planned term after 2025?  Now that is close to two trillion Guyana dollars.

That means $3.5 trillion Guyana dollars will be spent between 2020 and 2030 by the PPP.  That is enough money to cover the land space from Sherriff Street to Enmore, 10 miles deep and 10 feet high.  Visualize that, please.  The big question is, will Guyana get the best value for money from this spending?  Think about 10% of that is stolen, by way of these inflated contracts, that is $350 billion Guyana dollars for a handful of mostly Indo-Guyanese men.  Do you know how many Russian mercenaries those funds can buy to protect the PPP leaders?  Dictatorship?

While we must respect the ambition of the PPP, a proper understanding of where all this money has gone and is going between 2020 and 2030 is pertinent to the safety of our country and the opposition has to shape up now and deepen their understanding of this fiscal program and do whatever it takes to plug this leaking of public funds into private pockets. The days of “dolly house” politics and opportunistic politics are over.

The young people must demand from the opposition parties, that they either shape up and hire and engage the best brains into understanding the PPP Fiscal Plan for Guyana and carefully monitor it and ensure the people get value for money.  Lack of transparency and accountability on how these funds are spent means major displacement of too many Guyanese from actively accessing real opportunities.  And what is politics, if not to advocate for the small man and help him to find his real voice?  Guyana must not be an elected aristocracy and the earlier the opposition wakes up, the better for all the people of Guyana.

Sincerely,

Romeo Sukhu,

(Adjunct Professor)

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• Adjunct Professor, congresses, opposition, parties, Romeo Sukhu

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