Former President David Granger on Sunday made a last-ditch effort to mobilise support for APNU at Monday’s Local Government Elections (LGE) and attracted a stinging response from the ruling PPP/C which challenged his record.
In a video posted on Facebook, Granger stated that he was proud to have served as president in 2015 when A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) brought back the LGE after it had been denied by the current ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) for almost 20 years. In encouraging citizens, he reminded them that local representation is based on trust between citizens and the councilors whom they elected to represent them, trust between the communities, the municipalities and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). The contents of the video were not reported in Monday’s edition of Stabroek News as it would have constituted politicking on polling day.
The retired Brigadier, who has kept a low profile since his coalition exited office after an attempt at the Guyana Elections Commission to rig the 2020 general elections in its favour, added that citizens should not trust a party when the evidence shows that their words do not match their works. On this note, he contended that local representation was strengthened by APNU and, at the time, the party’s works matched their words.
During his address, Granger asked whoever of the Guyanese populace was tuned in some questions.
“Should you trust the PPP/C that refused to enact for approved changes to legislation which was passed by the National Assembly in 2014? Should you support a party that damaged urban and rural economic development for nearly 20 years by refusing to hold LGE and starving town councils of state funds?… should you trust the PPP/C that uprooted NDCs (3 dozen/36 NDCs) and installed unelected, unpopular, unlawful, unwanted, interim management committees in the face of picketing and protests by those citizens? Should you trust the PPP/C that refused to attend the national/regional development committee, established by the APNU administration to ensure that the Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs), NDCs, and the municipalities should meet together to plan for regional development and local government?… should you trust the PPP/C that spurned the constitution which requires ‘in the management and development of the region every council must devise its general development plans in progress and proceed to ignore or overrule non-PPP/C regional chairmen and mayors? Should you trust the PPP/C that still implements its ‘winner-takes-all’ plan to capture and control every local authority and to teach the nation a lesson about its idea of ‘One Guyana’?” he questioned.
The ex-president, who did not appear on the campaign trail and reportedly has strained ties with the leadership of APNU, also told the public of some of the reasons APNU could be trusted, including the fact that the then ruling coalition was responsible for appointing the Local Government Commission; extending local democracy through the establishment of four capital towns at Bartica, Lethem, Mahdia, and Mabaruma; and providing bicycles, buses, and boats for children to attend school safely.
“You can trust the APNU that recognizes the constitution which prescribes local government as a vital aspect of democracy. A vital aspect that should be organized so as to involve as many citizens as possible in the task of managing and developing the communities in which they live. You can trust the APNU that proclaimed the national day of villages, that introduced plans of action for regional development, that introduced village improvement plans, that introduced regional, agricultural, and commercial expositions, that introduced the rural agricultural infrastructure development plans, rural entrepreneurial agricultural projects in order to augment production in the villages of this country,” he added.
Granger also reminded that it is the responsibility of a LGE to prevent such things as one party gaining a free hand to capture strongholds and take control of every municipality in every neighbourhood and the domination of villages and communities. On the other hand, he noted the LGE should ensure the decentralization of responsibility to municipalities and NDCs through their elected Chairmen and Mayors.
“LGE recognizes that Guyana cannot be governed effectively, efficiently, and equitably by one-party alone or by central government which itself is dominated by one party,” Granger stated.
He urged citizens to refrain from “drinking the Kool-Aid” and instead trusting who they know, as they ventured out to vote.
The PPP/C hit back shortly after the video was posted and decried Granger’s record.
Falls flat
It said that Granger’s attempt to credit the former APNU+AFC Coalition with the return of Local Government Elections as a signal of APNU’s commitment to democracy falls flat in the face of the brazen efforts of his administration to block the holding of constitutionally due General and Regional Elections after the passage of a no-confidence motion in December of 2018 as well as the attempts to steal the Election after Guyanese went to the polls on March 2020.
The PPP/C added that his efforts to claim that the PPP/C cannot be trusted because it “spurned the Constitution” is unbelievably barefaced.
“The biggest, most flagrant and persistent violations of our Constitution and laws since Guyana gained independence have marred Mr. Granger’s record and that of his administration. Between May 2015 and March 2020…there are more than 15 where, under Mr. Granger’s watch, the Constitution of Guyana was violated. Mr. Granger did not give the sense that he wanted to stop these intrusions on our country’s democratic structure with his detached and frequently aloof attitude in the face of these violations. One of the most egregious and poignant memory of his constitutional violations is his unilateral appointment of a Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission. Following retired Justice Patterson’s appointment as Chairman, the matter was filed in the High Court, the Appeals Court and all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice. On June 18, 2019, the CCJ ruled that `we have no choice but to conclude that the process that was followed in the appointment of Justice Patterson was flawed and in breach of Article 161(2)’ Guyana’s Constitution”. It added that the Caribbean Court of Justice, on three significant occasions, had to intervene to reverse Granger’s unconstitutional actions.
The PPP/C said that Granger ought to be aware that naming a new town or proclaiming a National Day of Villages does not evidence a commitment to local democracy or development.
“It does remind, however, that Mr. Granger presided over a period where ‘pomp and ceremony’ mattered more than the people of this country and their prosperity – the decision to spend billions on food and other forms of consumption at the expense of taxpayers. Mr. Granger would have probably been better served if he, having finally emerged back into the public eye, could have defended or at least attempted a defence of his Administration’s imposition of hardships on our people; the institution of over 200 taxes and fees; the firing of almost 2,000 Amerindians – who were the first of our people to be targeted by his Administration; the firing of thousands in the sugar sector; the massive loss of jobs in the forestry, mining, construction and retail sectors; the removal of the `Because We Care’ cash grant from our children; the removal of the one-month bonus for our Joint Services, and the list goes on”, the party said.
