Dear Editor,
There seems to be an aggressive and deceptive campaign on the part of the PPP/C and their agents to hoodwink the people into supporting their call for fresh elections. I have noted that over the last few weeks the Guyana Chronicle and their identified, fictitious, writers have been concocting stories and writing letters, almost daily, to support the PPP/C’s push for snap elections.
On February 17 Andrew Whyte, in a letter to the editor of the Chronicle under the caption; ‘Snap election is the best solution’ claimed that the PPP/C needs to call an election in order to move on. Then, again, on February 19, Krishna Prasad in his letter to the same newspaper, titled ‘Call for fresh election,’ seemed to suggest that the PPP/C would be able to wriggle out of the political situation in which they find themselves if they called snap elections. Then on Monday February 20, Wilbert M Stephenson, wrote a letter under the caption ‘There need to be fresh elections,’ suggesting that only if the PPP/C had a majority would Guyana be able to move forward. In addition to the Chronicle, the PPP/C has also been utilizing other means to support their subtle clarion call for snap elections. We have seen the AG, Anil Nandlall, on NCN telling Guyanese that the opposition should ensure the government’s budget passes, since if it fails to do so it may result in the people going back to the polls.
The new message to the PPP/C supporters, carved by Messrs Ramotar, Jagdeo and others, now appears to be tied to the fact that the government’s supplementary financial papers were not allowed to bulldoze through without due scrutiny.
The PPP/C’s message to their supporters, however, is framed in such a way as to project the administration as the victims of a tyrant opposition. A central theme in the PPP/C letters is that the parliamentary opposition parties are using their majority to stymie the work of the government, and that the PPP/C is unable to govern because the opposition is in the majority. This is a calculated falsity. No attempt has been made by the government to educate and sensitize the people as to why the government must take that deliberate, positive and necessary step to ensure that it acts responsibly, especially in this new dispensation. They must tell their supporters what their minority status means, particularly as it relates to the parliament; they must tell contractors and friends that contracts will not be awarded without proper scrutiny of all bids. The PPP/C has a unique opportunity to demonstrate leadership and maturity, but it is clear that they are prepared, as Mr Ramotar promised, for continuity with Mr Jagdeo’s kind of leadership.
Messrs Ramotar, Jagdeo and the PPP/C should know that the people of this country are watching, and we understand they are uncomfortable with the fact that the people made them a minority government, but we will not go to sleep and allow them to cheat us into participating in another election, when major changes have not been made at Gecom. The PPP/C knows this and so they are attempting in a clandestine manner to rush us into an election with the same officials in place; this must not happen. I urge every Guyanese to be alert.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
