Dear Editor,
President Ali is a good man and our duly elected President, who can end up being a great leader. Our AG, a “maybe” future presidential candidate and the smartest man in Guyana, is a national hero, and defender of our democracy. Who can forget his role as a “Guardian of Democracy” during the five months of rigging? I want the PPP Government to be very successful in office. However, the Government side must not be so thin-skinned in the face of critiques by some Civil Society groups. Why it is afraid of what it claims is a handful of people? It should embrace such criticism. None of us is as strong as all of us. None of us is as smart as all of us. It is unfortunate that several Ministers are apparently in an orchestrated attempt to intimidate the Civil Society groups and almost inviting ill will to them. According to a blog by the Oil and Gas Governance Network (www.OGGN.org), “The government can’t find time to ensure we have proper oil spill insurance, audit the US$9.5 billion oil expenses, and get us a fair deal. But it has plenty of time to attack civil society.” Minister Sonia should know that when her dad was an MP for the PNC, and probably before she was born, the GHRA was in the vanguard supporting the PPP’s fight for democracy. They were hounded by the PNC then, and now hounded by the ungrateful PPP.
The PPP likes “kisser upper,” groups that are lined up to pay obeisance to them, and who stand willing and ready to put malas on their necks, or issue a press release backing whatever the Government does. The PPP has no problems with “yes men” Civil Society groups who are in the “Kim-Il-Sung, Great leader” mentality, ready to heap praise on whatever they do. These include business groupings in the Private Sector and Chambers of Commerce. Sometimes these groups are actually playing the game of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” with the Government to feather their own nests. The real nationalists are the Civil Society groups offering authentic feedback, and should be listened to because they have the national interest at heart. They truly care. They are the pulse of the nation, especially the crossover voters that made the PPP a minority Government in 2011 and sent them packing in 2015.
The PPP propaganda machine in overdrive now calls those who offer critiques as “The Usual Suspects” and seeks to demonize them. Just recently there was a picture of 8 people, four of whom have doctorates, posted on a “Joe Hamilton’s” Facebook page. These are brilliant Guyanese. They were called “The Usual Suspects” and were vilified. Government leaders should not be engaged in these kinds of attacks, and force people to withdraw their signatures from petitions. The AG, especially, as the Chief Law Officer, probably should refrain from getting down to that gutter level of attacking Civil Society groups on his Facebook page. He is AG for all Guyana, including the one or two member groups. He is not an AG for the PPP only. The Civil Society groups have done nothing wrong in exercising their constitutional rights to free speech. The AG should uphold that, not denigrate it. It’s “Our Wealth, Our Country” and we all have a right to speak up! The PPP and PNC owns nothing. They are merely caretakers. They work for us. We are their bosses. We can fire them at election time!
The President need to reflect on whether such criticisms would detract from his “One Guyana” vision, and cause people to feel he meant “One Party Guyana.” Right now, most Civil Society people are silent. The Church people in all religions are in deep slumber. Business people are afraid to be associated with those who offer critiques on Government policy. The lawyers are timid. There is not much Civil Society advocacy now. So, the Government seeking to squelch all critiques is very, very bad. With oil, comes corruption. We need an eternally vigilant Civil Society to speak out for environmental protection, transparency, accountability, good governance, anti-corruption, and full disclosure relating to all contracts and agreements on natural resources. They just gave away the Enmore packaging facility. Government cannot arrogate to itself the right to impose litmus tests to say which person or group is valid to speak, based on the size of their membership. The Constitution confers free speech rights to every single Guyanese, even if it is a one-member group. The Government just refused to listen to the Opposition with 31 seats and railroaded its own nominee to be a director for the Natural Resource Fund. The Government did not respect the size of the Opposition yet uses size as a litmus test on who should or should not speak. This is undemocratic.
It is silly to say that a person or organisation loses the right to criticize because they had nothing to say during the five months of impasse when the APNU+AFC attempted to rig the elections. So what should we say about none of the PPP MPs or Ministers, including those who are women and religious leaders, and all those business organizations who have not said anything about “Minister Dildo’s” disgraceful, vulgar remarks in parliament. Yet the PPP sent this man on a PR jaunt in NY, and the pandits there had him sitting in the front row of the temple event. Have they now lost the right forever to speak on moral or ethical issues? Does this mean the PPP has no morality anymore?
Maybe the government would like to explain why it promised to “review and renegotiate” the oil contracts as part of its Manifesto but have refused to do so. How about the Government explaining why it has not done so but promised on March 2, 2021 to initiate the “Order of Democracy” awards to all those “Guardians of Democracy” and letter writers who contributed to fighting the PNC’s rigging of the 2020 elections. There was a special release of a video by the Office of the President announcing the “Order of Democracy” awards. So, to our PPP Government I say – please do your job and stop attacking the Civil Society groups. When you hang by a thread of a one seat majority, don’t make enemies. Do you want the PNC to win in 2025? Stop the arrogance!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
