Dear Editor,
I posited some time ago that this May 11 elections will be a referendum on Bharrat Jagdeo, who sought to diminish the memory of the Jagans in the PPP by becoming the embodiment of the PPP for the sole purpose of engaging in self-entitlement and self-enrichment pursuits.
After witnessing his hijacking of the PPP campaign from presidential contender, Donald Ramotar, and running said campaign on a platform of sheer ethnic insecurity and fear instead of on his party’s record, this elections apparently means more to him than it does to the PPP. His racial rhetoric to induce fear in Indians may be a cover for his own fear of losing what he has gained to date, so he is cajoling Indians to vote to protect his gains and assure he gains more. It really is not about protecting Indians.
Take for example, the latest ‘sweetheart’ deal involving Dax Engineering, which is generating much public discussion, as per Ralph Ramkarran’s, “Axe Dax deal,” (SN, May 4). The government wants us to believe this is about repairing the screwed up Fibre-Optic project, but while Dax appears set to benefit at the expense of the public over the next few decades, the sheer timing of this questionable deal mere days before the 2015 elections is eerily similar to Mr. Jagdeo’s sharing out of questionable broadcast licences mere days prior to the 2011 elections. How can anyone not detect this Dax deal, therefore, as an extension of the 2011 broadcast licences’ distribution to achieve an overall objective of domination of the communications sector?
President Donald Ramotar’s son, Mr. Alexei Ramotar, has proven to be a pathetic failure with the Fibre-Optic project, and no evidence exists that his father, an equally pathetic failure as President, knows anything about the ramifications of this Dax deal, so given the magnitude of this deal, is Mr. Jagdeo the real player behind it?
If he is, then given all the government giveaways the last fifteen years, Mr. Jagdeo may be looking to consolidate the economic empire he appears to have begun building through a number of specially chosen surrogates and by using government as his primary construction equipment, along with public funds and Guyana’s economic and human resources.
Starting with the sale of the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation in 1999 to his best friend, Bobby Ramroop, followed by the sale of the costly renovated Sanata Complex to the same best friend, and the best friend’s eventual ownership of a newspaper, radio and television stations, and moving from a minor shareholder in the Berbice Bridge to a major shareholder, observers have long been asking what the real deal is behind Ramroop receiving all these benefits at the expense of the people of Guyana. That question appears to be receiving an answer in the manner in which Mr. Jagdeo is aggressively campaigning for the PPP, given that if the PPP loses May 11, he may have an exceedingly great lot to lose in terms of his personal king-size pension and the benefits to his surrogates who appear set to dominate the communications sector, among others.
Worse than all of that is whether a PPP loss could trigger a forensic audit of the government that could uncover a network of corrupt deals and practices.
Editor, contrary to what Messrs. Jagdeo, Ramotar, Rohee, Luncheon et al, have been preaching on the campaign trail about Indians being adversely affected by an APNU+AFC regime, Mr. Jagdeo may be the one most adversely affected by an APNU+AFC regime, while his surrogates and supporting cast in government will feel the ripple effects. This elections, therefore, is not about the Opposition versus the PPP, but all about the people of Guyana versus Bharrat Jagdeo, and what is at stake is the future of Guyana and Guyanese.
As Guyanese head to the polls on Monday, they need to keep in their mind’s eye that Mr. Jagdeo has hijacked the PPP, diminished the memory and principles of the PPP’s founding leaders, and used the hijacked PPP and government as a vehicle for self-entitlement and self-enrichment pursuits.
Voters need to discern an extremely dangerous development taking place in Guyana where one man appears to seek control of both the political and economic levers of powers. A vote against the PPP on May 11, therefore, is not a vote against the Jagans’ memory (that is being diminished) or Jagans’ party (that has been hijacked) or against ‘development/progress’ (for the new wealthy class). A vote against the PPP on May 11 is actually a vote to stop Bharrat Jagdeo’s 15-year march to the formation of an oligarchy.
The Americans, British and Canadians, who have been hospitable and helpful to Guyanese over the decades, stand ready to help us defend our democracy and develop our country, while the Jagdeoites look to the Chinese who come bearing ‘gifts’ in exchange for numerous secret deals for our patrimony.
There is a lot at stake on May 11 for both the Jagdeoites, on the one hand, and other Guyanese, on the other hand.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
