…to have to prove it is not dead
The announcement by Alliance For Change (AFC) leaders that the party intends to go to the local polls alone to test its strength is being viewed by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, as a symptom of the minority party’s political shape, according to him, a sad one.
Jagdeo addressed the issue during a recent press conference where the former President expressed suspicion that both the AFC and its A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) partner are aware of the party’s evaporating support at the grass roots. It is a point, Jagdeo noted, that his party and the coalition could agree on.
“Imagine the leaders of the AFC said they have to prove to APNU and Guyana that they are not dead… I suspect that in the APNU circle, they have formed the same impression that we (People’s Progressive Party) have formed – that AFC is dead on the ground as you have seen,” Jagdeo observed.
In addition, Jagdeo noted that there are efforts to create an impression that the AFC is separate from the majority APNU; when in fact, he said, the AFC themselves are culpable.
“In trying to create this impression that they’re different, they’re saying to people that the APNU group in Government is the corrupt group. They are not. They’ve started spreading that on the ground; that the AFC people have been struggling internally within the Government to fight against corruption but the APNU people are dominating them. They’ve started in Berbice again saying ‘oh they were opposed to the closure of the sugar industry’ which is not substantiated by facts,” he posited.
According to the Opposition Leader, the fact that the AFC is not claiming responsibility for the corruption taking place under the coalition Administration is laughable, when the performance of several portfolios are considered.
“We have them defending the closure vociferously, even more than the APNU people and it was Nagamootoo who took that message of closure, long before the decision had been made to close Rose Hall estate.”
In fact, Jagdeo asserted that Nagamootoo does very little but “live off taxpayers”. He pointed to the Agriculture Ministry and noted that the Ministry has, since the coalition took over, cut millions from the Budget; sums that would have been used for drainage, irrigation and construction of roads to the market.
In addition, Jagdeo referenced the increases in water and land charges from $3500 per acre annually to $15,000. This is not to mention the thousands of sugar workers who have been dismissed from their employment as a result of Government’s downsizing of the industry. Nor was Jagdeo impressed by the handling of the natural resources and business portfolios – both of which are run by AFC Ministers.
“(Natural Resources Minister Raphael) Trotman, who is the leader of the AFC… said we did not receive the US$18 million signing bonus. He was the one who led the renegotiation of this contract that the whole country has concluded now is stacked mainly in the favour of ExxonMobil and not in the favour of Guyanese… under performance,” he maintained.
“(Public Security Minister) Khemraj Ramjattan, another leader of the AFC, is totally lost in fighting crime. He gives excuses, he whips out a series of statistics, showing some reduction in crime and I really believe the statistics now are fudged, when you compare that with the reality of what’s happening.”
On Sunday last, the AFC announced that they will be contesting the Local Government Elections (LGE) on November 12, separate from APNU. This decision was reached following the inconclusive negotiations with APNU, the party had stated.
At the same time, it had maintained that this decision only applies for the 2018 LGE and does not affect the APNU/AFC coalition Government, nor does it, change the AFC’s position on coalition politics at the national level. At a press conference following this announcement, Trotman had struck a matter of fact tone. In fact, Trotman claimed the decision was made since last year.
“Since last year we decided that we were going to contest the elections independently and we spoke to APNU about the matter. There were little points on which we were able to come to an agreement on. At the national level, it was easy to say 60/40, but LGE is different and it wasn’t easy coming with that same share to the table. Both sides sought to find common ground, but it didn’t materialise because of the particulars… but we still remain cordial on the matter,” he said.
“Going independently will refresh and strengthen the coalition for 2020, so that the people will get the best of both parties. Being in Government sometimes makes you complacent and you lose touch with the people and the coalition needs to be refreshed. This will augur well for us. We expect to be in competition with each other, but in battle with the PPP,” he had added.
