“Don’t be seduced by ‘new’ promises from coalition” – Jagdeo

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Sunday urged Guyanese not to be seduced once again by the fallacious promises made by the incumbent APNU/AFC coalition.

He told supporters at a massive rally in Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, on Sunday that they should not trust nor believe the coalition Administration since it failed to fulfil its many promises made in 2015.
“How could anybody in their right mind believe anything that APNU says. How could you believe anything that they say when everything that they put in their manifesto in 2015, they failed to fulfil. So comrades, don’t be seduced by this nonsense of new promises,” the Opposition Leader noted.
Jagdeo recounted in 2015 when he warned that if the APNU/AFC coalition won that election then the country would be on a decline and the people would suffer. That, he noted, was not being prophetic but was based on the reality of their time in office.
“By end of that period in 1992, the hardships had manifested themselves and the economy was totally destroyed and so we knew what was to come… In 28 years of rule, they did not use that time to enhance freedom but remained in office through rigged elections so we knew there would be an assault on democratic values…,” he posited.

The Opposition Leader pointed out that many people fell in love with the promises they heard from APNU and AFC at that time.
“The sugar workers, rice farmers, pensioners, young people and many others all thought that this Administration would do something to improve their lives. And today we don’t have to tell what has happened because you’ve seen every single promise broken. You’ve seen the deterioration of every sector, you’ve seen the hardships that people face now and people want this change, and that’s why I have no fear that the outcome on March 2, will be anything but a PPP victory,” he asserted.
Jagdeo, who is also the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), noted that they have outlined many of their measures over the past four months, showing Guyanese their specific plans for the future to benefit everyone.

Plan for Guyana
He pointed out that the PPP/C is the only party that has a plan for Guyana and all of its people. In fact, he noted the reason that the PPP stayed in office for over 23 years is because it is a national party that caters for the development and enhancement of everyone, from residents in Linden to those in the hinterland.
These developments will continue under a new PPP/C regime, he assured.
According to Jagdeo, after telling citizens about cash grants from the oil revenue, the coalition is now saying that they will have to do a feasibility study before doing that. He pointed out that they did not do a feasibility study before increasing the salaries of Ministers mere months after taking office.
The Opposition Leader noted that the PPP/C Administration had started a cash grant programme, which was cancelled by the coalition, for school children and this was done even without oil money.
“We did it without and with oil… you gonna get back that money and it will go to $50,000 and we don’t need a feasibility study,” he stated.
Jagdeo told supporters that even if there were no oil revenues, the PPP/C would have restored the cash grants and this would have been funded by cutting back the hefty spending of the coalition Government.
“We’re gonna cut out the $1.1 billion more that these Ministers spend on local travel. We’re gonna cut out the $1 billion more that they spend on rental of buildings, another nearly billion dollars more on maintenance of vehicles and another billion dollars more food in Government. If we cut all of those things, then we can afford the cash grants to the child without oil money and we can give the pensioners double what they’re getting,” he asserted.
On this note, the Opposition Leader encouraged supporters on Sunday to ensure that they go out to vote on March 2 to secure victory for the PPP/C. He pointed out that getting to this point was not an easy journey as the party had to fight the coalition in every step along the way.
“But your party is very strong. Don’t underestimate the strength of the People’s Progressive Party,” he contended.
The PPP General Secretary further urged persons to ensure that they check their names on the voters’ list and know their polling places to avoid confusion on elections day.
“Ensure that you know where you are voting and if you’re misplaced in another division, make plans to go there and vote. Every vote matter comrades… We’re in the last stretch. We’ve run the more distance. It’s been a hard battle to get here. We’ve had to fight them tooth and nail, in Parliament etcetera, to get to this point. We’re two weeks away, let’s accelerate. The sprint is now on, we can’t let down now and I’m counting on all of you here…,”