A number of ex-senior military and police officers have slammed former president Bharrat Jagdeo over his statements that the police and defence forces would be compromised should the coalition win next month’s general elections.
Speaking at a People’s Progressive Party campaign rally at Albion Berbice on Sunday, Jagdeo told attendees that if they voted for the APNU+AFC coalition and that party won they ran the risk of having their homes invaded by the military.
“When they link up with the military, as they have done, and come into your homes and start kicking the doors down and when they come after you, who is going to be there?” Jagdeo said.
“They are going to subvert the professionalism of the army and police because there will be no professional army or police. The entire executive is dominated by senior ex-policemen and ex-soldiers there can be no professionalism as was done in the past. So there are lots of things we have to be fearful about and lots of things we have to do in the future. I urge you when you go home think on these things,” he added.
He also said that his party has asked for international observers to witness the May 11 elections as it believes that if it wins marginally there would be unrest fuelled by the opposition.
To this end he called on voters, to turn out to give his party a resounding victory pleading with his party supporters to not “drink rum” on the eve of or on polling day to impair their voting.
“Go to every home in your village, whether they voted AFC or PPP… You must be more hyped up than Freedom House. We need to demonstrate decisively because they are already questioning the list… If the victory is narrow they may want to create violence,” he said.
His comments did not go down well with current and past hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force and Jagdeo was accused of scaremongering to being “downright insulting” to the men and women who have or are serving in both disciplines.
“These comments serve to criminalize the military and put our soldiers at the risk of being attacked by persons who believe they will kick down their doors and bring them harm. I strongly condemn these statements as divisive and race baiting,” former Rear Admiral of the GDF Gary Best told Stabroek News.
“The remarks made by former and current government officials at several political rallies to the effect that an APNU+AFC victory would result in the militarization of Guyana and a link up with the military to enter the homes and kick down the doors of Guyanese citizens and such other comments are an insult to the citizens of this country, an insult to the service of former military ranks and an insult to the current military men and women who are serving this country,” Best also stated.
Best in his condemnation of Jagdeo’s comments labelled them as divisive and race baiting.
He believes that the presence of former military ranks, now civilians, within the APNU+AFC political structure serves to provide this nation with a disciplined level of their service as citizens.
“I have every confidence that our past military will continue to develop this nation in the best way possible and those who chose politics present no danger to the nation but rather a wealth of experience and talent that out nation badly needs at this hour,” he stressed. “The Guyana Defence Force subscribes to the values and standards that include duty, integrity, respect for others and appropriate military conduct which servers to reinforce its professional standards. These values and standards are taught at every level in the force …I have every confidence that the Guyana Defence Force will continue to execute its duties to the nation in the professional manner it has adopted since inception, notwithstanding, insulting and unfounded attacks on its integrity.”
Former Commissioner of Police and APNU+AFC executive Winston Felix also denounced Jagdeo statements saying that his party believes it’s a psychological electioneering tactic used by the PPP to create fear in its supporters and thus influence their voting choices.
“It part of scaremongering and much ado about nothing because professional people deal differently … They are trying to whip up hysteria in their constituency unnecessarily,” he said.
“There is nothing to fear from an ex-military man getting involved in the politics, absolutely nothing. How he conducts himself [you] judge him on that. When your career is over as military or police you are free to choose any other career and there is no barrier. If you check history a number of US presidents have had military careers. They are creating an unfavourable opinion against former military and police in the APNU and AFC,” he added.
However he does not believe that scaremongering will influence the voting populace as he said persons are smarter and will see the statements as “dehumanizing” and will focus on issues as they know that many ex-military persons have diversified their careers upon leaving the disciplined forces.
He assured voters that ex-military in the coalition are there to help to build the country and they have nothing to fear. “We mean no harm we consider our input service to the development of this country,” he said.
Felix’s views were echoed by a current high ranking officer of the GDF who said he took offence to Jagdeo’s comments. He too assured that the GDF will continue to be professional in the execution of its duties and will not be influenced by the politics of the country.
“It is a slap in the face of our brave men and women who have and are serving this country with dignity… Voters have to have more sense than to allow anyone to put any fear into them to pull their votes,” the officer said.
“We will not be pulled into the muckraking politics that seeks to dehumanize our servicemen and women,” he added.
