Dear Editor,
I don’t care who is ‘fetching water’ for Mr Donald Ramotar and don’t want him to be constructively criticized, but as matters stand right now in Guyana, the buck stops at the President’s desk for all issues of national importance. And based on the President’s management of the government (or lack of it) and leadership (or lack of it) of the country, it is time for us to call a spade a spade.
He is an abject failure! And it is not that we didn’t have a clue when he sat on the GuySuCo board and watched the company lose billions or when he headed the PPP while corruption ran amok under the Jagdeo regime, but from the time he was elected, all he has done is make a set of remarks while his government has dilly-dallied and shilly-shallied on issues that require his direct input and updating of the nation.
There is hardly a single sign of major benefit to the people of Guyana that the PPP is alive and kicking for the people of Guyana; almost everything it has done has been self-serving.
For example, the government agreed to the parliamentary opposition’s demand for tripartite talks but then refused to engage the parliamentary opposition on a consultancy basis in preparation of the 2012 Budget, and had its Budget cut.
It went to court to obtain a reversal of the parliamentary opposition’s decision to determine the composition of parliamentary committee seats, and it lost. It went to court to win a reversal of the parliamentary opposition’s Budget cuts, and it lost. In the absence of an AFC MP to a PAC meeting, it rushed to appoint several officials in the Audit Office, igniting controversy over the wife of the Finance Minister.
That’s just a snapshot, but when we consider the time, finances and resources expended here, we can readily conclude that none of these things actually translated into a direct benefit for Guyanese; they all point to a naked and desperate power grab by the PPP, which continues to live in resolute denial of the effects of November 28, 2011, that made APNU and the AFC its co-partners in the legislative agenda of the country.
Furthermore, the President has been largely absent from the forefront as the elected leader of the government in all this. Now we have the Linden protests that produced three martyrs and untold life-long physical suffering and emotional scars, but the President is still missing, opting for a press conference and government statements.
Editor, when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005, President Bush was derided by many for his seemingly long delay in making a direct personal appearance to the affected areas. It even prompted rapper Kanye West to raise the race card when he went off-script at a hastily put together hurricane relief concert shown on NBC TV, when he said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Bush finally showed up on September 2 or five days later.
Last Friday, in Aurora, Colorado, a demented gunman channelling a character, Joker, from the blockbuster movie, The Dark Knight Rises, showered bullets on patrons in a movie theatre complex. Twelve died and many others were wounded. President Obama cancelled campaigning and presidential duties and showed up in the area on Sunday, or two days later, to reassure residents and talk with victims and relatives of the deceased.
In Guyana, up to the time of writing (Monday morning or five days after the Linden tragedy), the President is yet to visit the Linden community. And he probably has good reason, because the last time he visited was October 17, 2011, when he told residents that with the fruition of Amaila Falls Hydro Project, the electricity subsidy government is making to the community will be reduced. He never promised that within six months of being elected, he will start cutting the subsidy, because it would have been political suicide with elections pending.
Against the foregoing, how can anyone in their right mind not lay the blame for the unlawful killing of three unarmed civilians in a massive protest at the government’s door? Some are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sam Hinds and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, hold-overs from the Jagdeo regime era, but while that may be all well and good, it does not absolve the President for being ultimately responsible, because Messrs Hinds and Rohee serve in his cabinet.
President Ramotar owns the tragedy that evolved from the protest that was triggered by his government’s vindictive and insensitive behaviour. He did not have to give any order to pull a trigger; all he had to do was nothing to ensure that the police abided by conventional standards when dealing with unarmed protesters.
Does anyone get the sense that President Ramotar does not know what he is supposed to do?
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
