Dear Editor,
I am profoundly relieved at the decision of the political opposition to finally form a united front and stand up against the PPP regime, ‘Opposition to petition Caricom on governance issues,’ (SN, May 23).
‘Better late than never,’ is a proverbial saying, but given Guyana’s dilemma, I have to say that, ‘Never late is better.’ So it now behoves the political opposition to learn from their past mistake of taking too long to act, and commit to building on this first major step to force the regime to change its behaviour or face growing public agitation.
Probably over a year ago, in one of my published letters, I specifically urged the political opposition to momentarily put aside their differences and take a united approach in confronting the Bharrat Jagdeo-led PPP regime, which, at the time, appeared to be engaging in political grandstanding with photo-ops and news stories of government officials giving checks for millions to the Georgetown City Council, then turning around and castigating the council for not doing its job.
Central government, working through the Local Government Ministry, appeared to be trying to embarrass the council by allowing conditions in the city to deteriorate to an irritating level then rush in with a well orchestrated show of ‘timely help’ that made the government appear as the ‘saviour.’
But I specifically blamed the central government for the council’s failings, because as the lead body, central government failed to ensure the citizens of Georgetown got an opportunity in the last ten years to exercise their constitutionally mandated franchise to elect a mayor. By virtue of not facing an election in over a decade, the mayor and councillors literally serve at the pleasure of the central government and the mayor even had certain proposals for revenue collection shot down by central government.
That was my main reason back then, but since then, the central government has worsened its shocking autocratic behaviour on a national level, and so the political opposition owes it to its various constituents to unite and work to end this unacceptable style of governance.
Mr Editor, what is even more deeply disturbing than the government’s behaviour is that the hierarchy of the ruling party appears to be living in denial of the people’s realities. It either is not interested in what is happening or it has been somehow rendered ineffective trying to deal with President Jagdeo’s autocratic governance style.
For example, despite all that we are witnessing at the hands of the Jagdeo government, PPP matriarch, Mrs Janet Jagan, never publicly commented on these troubling happenings that would have evoked a response from her had it been under the PNC, yet she found the time to write a letter, in response to one from Mr Vishnu Bisram, stating that her late husband, Dr Cheddi Jagan, did fire a minister for some misdeed. Big deal!
Then PPP General Secretary, Mr Donald Ramotar, showing a similar detachment from the people’s grave discomfort with the Jagdeo policies and practices, wrote a letter defending the party’s decision to retain an immunity clause in the revised constitution that protects the President from civil and criminal proceedings.
Those two, together with Home Affairs Minister, Mr Clement Rohee, whose loss of the spigot on his well of political propaganda exposes why he is unqualified and inexperienced for his highly sensitive job, have shocked us with their vacuous writings at a time when the country is looking to the ruling party for assurances given the failing performance of their candidate running the country.
Mr Editor, if Mr Ramotar, whose name is being bandied about as a PPP presidential candidate for 2011, represents the best of the crop in the PPP, then Guyana is in for a longer and rougher ride. But this need not be the reality if the political opposition would seriously set aside their differences and pains of the past and recognize that the needs of the country demand no less of their united effort to save Guyana from continuing its socioeconomic and political downward spiral under this inept and corrupt PPP regime.
Yours faithfully
Emile Mervin
