Dear Editor,
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” Deuteronomy 30:19
Life is about the choices we make. A citizen has a right or some may say a privilege to vote and elect their leaders in a democratic society. That process which is enshrined with constitutional protection that allows freedom of expression, association, conscience and assembly should be considered as a foundation on which one stands when he/she participates in the democratic process.
Guyana’s system of Government is a democracy, it is not a theocracy. God does not elect and protect Governments, people do. Christians, in particular, must not be cajoled by enticing statements and subliminal messages using biblical undertones.
Justice, righteousness and equity should be guiding principles. Guyana’s National Assembly voted on December 21, 2018, that it had no confidence in the Granger-led coalition Government. Judas, Satan or Lucifer are not members of the National Assembly, it was 33 honourable men and women, elected representatives of the people who exercised their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana that rendered such a defeat. It was not a battle between God and Satan, it was about policies, programmes, actions and measures that were inimical to the interests of the Guyanese people. Those actions were rejected by the legitimately and constitutionally positioned representatives of the people.
The deposing of that cabal who squandered every opportunity that was given to them to govern Guyana can be described as an act of righteousness. It was done to protect families of sugar workers who were vindictively and politically ostracised. The closure of these estates was done without any feasibility study or any socio-economic impact assessment and even against the recommendations contained in the Commission of Inquiry (COI) that was mandated by this very coalition Government.
It was done to protect the country’s wealth from a kleptocratic Government; we must remember the collecting of the US$18 million signing bonus, not placing it in the Consolidated Fund and the constant denial of its existence by senior members of this now defeated Administration.
Thirdly, it was to further protect Guyanese from the perverse measures that saw the increase in over 200 taxes in licenses, fines and fees, taking away a further G$85 billion of disposable income annually from citizens.
It was about the disappointment of the people, the rice farmers who were promised $9000 per bag for their paddy, the public servants who were promised significant increases in wages and salaries, the men and women in uniform who were promised better remunerations but instead lost their annual one month tax-free bonus which was later described by this Government as a bribe the PPP/C Government gave. It was about the $10,000 per child cash grant that parents lost, the removal of the subsidies on water and electricity from our seniors, and the imposition of 14 per cent VAT on the latter, all of which was done after giving themselves a 50 per cent increase on their salaries which they lied consistently about until it was found out. While a small cabal of cronies is enjoying the “good life”, 30,000 jobs have been lost since May 2015 and many families are experiencing grave hopelessness.
The speed and brazen manner in which corrupt deals were struck with “political investors” such as the Jubilee D’Urban Park, the Sussex Street Drug Bond, the sole sourcing of $605 million of pharmaceuticals for GPHC, the fuel smuggling racket, the fertilizer deal, HDMS Labs fiasco, the infamous trip to China, the undisclosed visit by the famous 5 to Houston Texas, the feasibility study of the New Demerara Harbour Bridge imbroglio, the awards of scholarships to Ministers of Government and families and friends of senior Government officials, the poorly negotiated PSA with ExxonMobil and the list goes on. This stench of corruption was so obnoxious that even staunch supporters of the coalition Government sought relief. The way forward was to purge the society of this incompetent, useless, tone-deaf Administration.
A vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly should have led to elections in 90 days which would have seen a change of Government. The indecent and shameless clinging on to power by way of spurious and incredible arguments is certainly not Godly or an act of righteousness. It is desperation, an abuse of the legal process, an abuse on the Constitution, a transparent display of the undemocratic nature of these modern day Pharisees. If you talk about God, you must be Godly. It is not by your talks that you are defined, it is by your actions. The fruits of unrighteousness are already bearing after just four short years.
The journey through the courts, both locally and at the CCJ, and the arguments that were proffered exposed the depth of depravity that this APNU/AFC Government is prepared to take us. Elections 2019 that is before us will give every Guyanese an opportunity to intelligently compare, analyse and then choose the team that is best for the leadership, securing the interest and protecting the patrimony of Guyana. It is my considered view that the PPP/C, even with its admission of human limitations, is still the best tried and tested team that will take Guyana into a prosperous and progressive future.
We will right the wrongs, open new frontiers, restore hope and restore dignity.
Yours sincerely,
Bishop Juan Edghill
PPP/C MP
