The Alliance for Change today said that Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has no moral authority to grade the government and charged that his administration had left the country in a literal and figurative mess.
A statement from the AFC follows:
The Alliance For Change calls on former failed President and now floundering Opposition Leader Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who along with his successor presided over what had effectively become a narco-economy, to conduct himself with some semblance of decency and honesty.
The AFC finds recent comments by Mr. Jagdeo that he would give an F grade to the APNU+AFC Government as lacking any sense of objectivity or fairness. This approach however fits with the far-right extremist approach and utter desperation that Mr. Jagdeo has adopted in treating with matters as Opposition Leader.
The AFC wishes to remind Mr. Jagdeo that his regime left Guyana in a literal and figurative mess and tatters when it was rejected by the electorate and forced to exit government in May 2015. The APNU+AFC Coalition Government has been diligently working to restore law and order to Guyana, to provide better education, health and social services to the people, to modernize public infrastructure and to clean up and beautify our beloved Guyana which was left in a state of putridity and filth by Jagdeo’s PPP.
The achievements in the mere 20 months of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government can compare favourably with the PPP’s minimal achievements for 23 years.
It was the APNU+AFC Coalition government, Mr. Jagdeo must be reminded, which held Local Government Elections in Guyana after an absence of 22 years, during which time it was his party which failed to deliver LGE to the Guyanese people.
The party wishes to remind Mr. Jagdeo whose memory appears to be fading that since coming into office the APNU+AFC Government has:
(i) increased public servants salaries by 37%
(ii) reduced the PPP imposed VAT from 16% to 14%
(iii) passed the Telecommunications Bill
(iv) restored decency and cleanliness to Georgetown
(v) held Local Government Elections
(vi) restored law and order
(vii) established the Public Procurement Commission
(viii) increased Old Age Pension by over 45% from $13,125 to $19,000
(ix) increased minimum wage from $39,540 to $55,000
(x) increased the tax threshold from $50,000 to $60,000
(xi) built and resurfaced roads and bridges all across Guyana
(xii) restored A credible international image to Guyana
(xiii) robustly defended Guyana’s territorial integrity
(xiv) passed the Anti Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Act
(xv) established three new towns
(xvi) opened hinterland community radio stations
(xvii) reduced the Berbice Bridge toll
There is much more that can be listed as achievements of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government but the above list should suffice. And yet the Coalition Government continues to work to achieve even more to realise the good life for all Guyanese.
With regard to the protection of Guyana’s borders the AFC wishes to remind Mr. Jagdeo that it was he who revealed that his government was considering an outrageous option to “give Venezuela a channel” effectively ceding maritime space to our western neighbour.
Mr. Jagdeo has no moral authority whatsoever to speak on the performance of government when as president his performance was mired in failure. Mr. Jagdeo’s presidency is synonymous with obscene corruption, hundreds of extra-judicial killings, drug lords overrunning the nation and a narco-state, fear embedded in the hearts and minds of citizens and failed foreign relations. It was in reference to Mr. Jagdeo’s presidency that a then sitting CARICOM Prime Minister said that he (Jagdeo) had reduced Guyana to the state of an “international panhandler”.
Given these indisputable facts, it is Mr. Jagdeo who is out of touch with reality and seems to be living in a state of extreme denial in his controversially acquired extravagant mansion in Pradoville. It is the view of the AFC that Mr. Jagdeo needs to reflect on his resounding failure as a president in flattening growth and development in Guyana before he begins to contemplate casting judgment on this or any other government.