Dear Editor,
We recently celebrated our independence anniversary. At the flag raising ceremony at D’Urban Park this regime once more showed the direction it is taking our country. It is most disturbing and very, very dangerous.
The Guyana flag had the PNC/APNU colour attached to it. This is taking us back to the period when the PNC flag flew above the Guyana Flag in the compound of the Court of Appeal. It also flew in like manner in the compound of many Ministries. It was a declaration that the party was above the state. In the words of Burnham, the state was just the executive arm of the Party.
This regime has not made that announcement as yet, but its actions tell the same story. They reflect a mentality, a philosophy and a world outlook, that is detrimental to the welfare of all the people of Guyana.
The alarming aspect of this latest episode is that it is not an action in isolation. It follows a series of earlier events all designed to establish a dictatorship.
As everyone knows, by itself, an army is not a democratic institution. It is not based on consultations, etc. It is command style, give and take orders. This is its training.
This group that wields power in Guyana are trained officers, accustomed to giving orders. The main decision-makers in this group are the people who grew up in the period of Burnham’s domination. They have always longed for a return of the Burnham days when they ran the country as their personal property.
The only difference is that while, for Burnham, much of that may have been tactical, for this group, which lacks Burnham’s sophistication, it is strategic. They are doing nothing to hide their prejudice. In fact, some of their actions can be interpreted as actually an encouragement to their minions to discriminate.
In terms of action, we see the regime using the state apparatus as an instrument of oppression against the political opposition. The SOCU and SARA are not performing any useful functions. SOCU seems to have lost its focus and its main purpose has become a tool of PNC/APNU to attack the PPP/Civic. The charges and putting in handcuffs of Ashni Singh and Winston Brassington were the most extreme so far.
If the regime was serious about fighting corruption as they claim they would have supported the motion by the PPP General Secretary to mandate all Members of Parliament over the last ten years to declare their assets, local and overseas with compulsory jail sentences for anyone who fails to do so.
If they really believe that the PPP/C officials were corrupt they would have jumped on that.
Almost all the deals that they have made since taking power cannot stand scrutiny. The house, rented for a bond for twelve million dollars ($12M) per month is a rape on our treasury. The acquiring of more than half of a billion dollars in drugs without public tender is another. The unaccountability for hundreds of millions at the D’Urban Park, coupled with conflict of interests is terrible abuse to put it mildly.
The latest act of pinning the PNC/APNU colours on our most important national symbol is one more expression of the disaster that has befallen us and the worst that is yet to come.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ramotar
Former President
