Dear Editor,
Within recent times the Stabroek News has justly won, in the region and beyond, a reputation for informed, balanced and objective editorials on a variety of subjects, such as the American primary elections, literary developments, and the local political and economic situation.
The editorial, in the Sunday May 18, 2008, issue of your newspaper, in the considered judgment of the PNCR, regrettably falls below that standard. That editorial betrays bias, as well as a fundamental misunderstanding of the local situation in Guyana and the current aims and objectives of the PNCR.
Although we respect your right to your point of view, it is instructive that the Stabroek News finds it helpful to deem the PNCR a ‘dinosaur,’ at the very a time when the party has demonstrated its capacity to bring large numbers of its supporters, well-wishers and other Guyanese, to peacefully protest, among other issues, the evident trend towards dictatorship by the Jagdeo regime, the crippling cost of living and, particularly, the socially destructive impact of the 16% VAT, the threat to press freedom and the fundamental right to freedom of expression and association which is enshrined in the Guyana Constitution. We do not believe that a dinosaur would understand, and be able to respond to, the extant situation in Guyana, by rallying thousands of people to protest, when the Jagdeo regime is using every possible repressive means, including the unlawful arrests and incarceration of the large numbers of Guyanese young people, primarily from areas, such as Albouystown, East Ruimveldt, East La Penitence and Tiger Bay, on the night prior to each planned march.
It is, perhaps, a mere coincidence that the PNCR is described as a ‘dinosaur’ – a concept that is used regularly by the Alliance for Change to seek to characterise the PNCR and the PPP as being the same. We hope that this is just a coincidence and not a reflection of bias.
If there is a political dinosaur in Guyana today it is the PPP which is relentlessly seeking to impose obsolete Marxist/Leninist norms, values and practices, in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, while violating the constitution and manifesting a total disregard for the rule-of-law.
It is a weak argument to suggest that the PNC “seemed to latch unto any topic that was in vogue at the time…” Apart from this being totally untrue, any objective examination of the readily available facts would reveal that, for several years, the PNCR sought to constructively engage the Jagdeo regime and to determine modes of cooperation which would be conducive to the promotion of national cohesion and development.
Unfortunately, the response of the Jagdeo PPP administration has been arrogance; the violation of the constitution; disrespect for the rule of law; ministerial excesses; the promotion of extra-judicial killings; the unlawful arrest and incarceration of the innocent; incompetence in dealing with the crime situation; alliance with and protection of drug lords from the law; an unwillingness to accommodate even the positive contributions of the reasonable non-political of our society; and, recently, the attack on press freedom, viz, the withholding of advertisements from the Stabroek News and, now, the suspension of CNS TV Channel 6 licence. It is in this context that we find the view of the Stabroek News a misrepresentation of the facts.
If such an argument had appeared in another newspaper, the PNCR would have considered it as totally lacking in seriousness and unworthy of a response.
However, since your editorial signals that the Stabroek News needs to be tutored on the motivations and dynamics of the current activities of the PNCR, we feel compelled to respond.
The Leader and the leadership of the party are on record, on several occasions, pointing out that the current political environment in Guyana – characterized by an evident economic crisis, a deteriorating security environment, and a rising threat to the freedom of expression – is not healthy for the hosting of Carifesta X. This is the party’s view and we would not easily resile from this view.
The editorial, unfortunately, essays into the internal politics of the PNCR by arrogating to itself the right to dictate to Mr Corbin how he should respond to his supporters. Mr Corbin was certainly not courting popularity, or seeking to raise his political profile to compete with his predecessor, Mr Desmond Hoyte, but was responding, not only to the hard-pressed conditions of his supporters, but also to the many Guyanese, of all races and creeds, who have been badly hurt by the unconscionable 16% VAT, the primary factor in the spike in prices in Guyana.
Incidentally, it is a very strange argument to suggest that, because the Jagdeo regime has willfully refused to review it, the PNCR should not press the administration for such a review and a possible reduction, whether in the short term or the long term. In fact, you should be aware that the administration had undertaken to conduct an immediate and thorough review and reform of the taxation regime in Guyana in order to remove the many evident disincentives for persons and business. Nothing of the sort has, to date, been done.
Had the PNCR adopted a defeatist attitude, then there would have been no commission of inquiry into the death squads or the disciplined forces.
This is not the first occasion that an editorial of the Stabroek News stops just short of telling the PNCR that it does not have the right to protest in the streets. The party, therefore, wishes to remind this newspaper that this right is enshrined in the constitution and it will continue to exercise it, as and when it deems it necessary. What is more, the PNCR sought to use the institution of the National Assembly to air its concerns. Unfortunately, the response of the Jagdeo PPP regime has been dismissive and a clear indication that they have no interest in parliamentary politics, except it serves their narrow partisan and propaganda purposes. Is it not strange that, the only time, in recent years, that President Jagdeo mentions the word ‘dialogue’ is in the face of the ‘People’s Protest’? It is the Jagdeo PPP/C regime that knows nothing about civil engagements. They seem to respond only to the pressures of protest. The PNCR is merely resorting to the only language that the Jagdeo administration understands. This is unfortunate but true.
The PNCR believes that the current economic situation and the consequential pain inflicted on the people are matters, in view of the intransigence of the Jagdeo regime, which must be protested against and marches and rallies held to sensitise the people as to what they can do to change the present situation What your newspaper regards as the “irresponsibility” of the PNCR is merely the party exercising its right to protest against these conditions and responding to the realities of PPP politics.
The Stabroek News suggests that Jagdeo should not have been burnt in effigy, regardless of his “shortcomings.” Is the Stabroek News serious?
The government has presided over the worst forms of corruption known to Guyana in its post-independence period; turned a Nelson’s eye to the creation of death squads and their activities between 2002 and 2004; abetted drug dealers and the drug trade; mismanaged the economy to the point where there was no growth between 1998 and 2005; allowed the security situation to deteriorate to the point where this country could witness unprecedented massacres of innocent Guyanese at Agricola, Eccles, Lusignan and Bartica; allowed the literacy rate to reach unheard of low levels; and, most of all, repeatedly poisoned the political atmosphere with racist statements at Babu John and other parts of Guyana. Are these mere shortcomings? Does the PNC not have the right to burn any political figure in effigy, as many other contemporary political organisations, in different parts of the world, routinely do?
The PNCR must register its surprise that the Stabroek News pretends to be unaware that, because of the political direction to which the police are now subject, the routes applied for by the party are determined politically and not by factors of logistics. On May 8, 2008, the police were clearly responding to the political directorate when they sought to prevent the supporters of the PNCR from demonstrating in front of parliament.
Not only does the PPP not wish Guyanese to demonstrate in front of parliament but it has placed Regent and Robb Streets off limits to any marches. Be it noted that, in opposition, the PPP was not subject to any such restrictions.
The marches and rallies of the PNCR have been peaceful and will continue to be so with the cooperation of the police and without the necessity for them to change routes applied for at the last minute.
On May 15, 2008, the PNCR applied for permission to hold a march and rally along a prescribed route. The practice has been for the police to give oral approval for the march and rally to be announced and this would be followed by written approval for the route of the march. This practice was being honoured on the day in question when it was observed on NCN TV Channel 11, the state controlled TV station, that there was an advertisement indicating that no approval had been given for the march.
This was followed by a letter from the police, in similar terms, minutes after the march was scheduled to start. In the meantime, a large number of supporters and members of the party had gathered at the starting point of the march. An ugly situation could have ensued had it not been for the sense of responsibility displayed by the leadership of the party.
The PNCR is one of the primary political institutions of this country – representing approximately 40% of the Guyanese Electorate – and, as a result, would like to believe that it is incumbent upon all media houses, including the Stabroek News, to be objective about its rights, its activities and its programmes and goals for Guyana.
While we accept that the Stabroek News has the right to support any political party it cares to, it is incumbent on the Stabroek News that it exercises the highest standards of fairness and objectivity that is required of a responsible news medium, in any functioning democracy.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Clarke,
General Secretary,
PNCR
