Dear Editor,
It seems to be the trend now that whenever the PNC demits office, they bankrupt the country and upon taking over the PPP is given the Herculean task of rebuilding the socio-economic destruction unleashed. The last time it had taken 28 years of ‘hard labour’ by the late Cheddi Jagan and the PPP to get rid of the PNC dictatorship, which they finally did in 1992. This time, however, the Granger dictatorship was nipped at the bud by the man who took Guyana on the road to prosperity after the demise of Dr Jagan, the maestro strategist, Dr Jagdeo. The world will now agree with the excellent choice made by the late Mrs Janet Jagan. But like 1992, the PPP/C will have to start the rebuilding again.
Having chartered the road to prosperity, and having completed his mandatory 2 terms, Dr Jagdeo saw a new surge to overthrow the PPP/C from office by a band of mercenaries headed by Ramjattan and Nagamootoo. The AFC, aided and abetted by false promises and its greed for power and material aggrandizement, began a series of lies and deceptions aimed at destabilising the PPP/C Government which they did.
Ramjattan and Nagamootoo sold their souls to the PNC and made an unholy alliance in 2015, and in May 2015, the APNU/AFC assumed the helm of power which immediately saw the crumbling of this nation due to unprecedented corruption, cronyism, mismanagement, incompetence and barefaced flouting of our laws. It was time for Dr Jagdeo to make his entry once again into Guyana’s political arena and do battle with the PNC juggernaut which was resurrected and abetted by the AFC.
Dr Jagdeo began to work immediately by exposing the coalition’s corruption and ineptitude on a weekly basis by providing damning pieces of evidence. Week after week he increased the salvoes aimed at the coalition and after the LGE in 2018, he knew that the time was right to go for the kill, and he did just that. On the night of December 21, 2018, he successfully overthrew the coalition by a vote of no confidence. He indeed accepted Amna Ally’s challenge to “bring it on”.
There were some in the AFC who have had enough of the destruction of the founding principles of the AFC and had rekindled their conscience. One such person was Charrandas Persaud and it was his vote which threw the coalition into total disarray. Unfortunately, Guyanese had to wait for almost a year to have the election which should have been held in March 2019. But this allowed the people to see the real PNC.
That period saw the continual battle waged by Dr Jagdeo and his team against the many vexatious and spurious legal proceedings brought on by Granger and his cabal. Mr Anil Nandlall was at his usual best as he relentlessly fought the PNC’s legal attacks.
At last, on March 2 the elections were held and Guyanese thought that the roughest hurdle was overcome but that was not to be. On the night of March 3, 2019, the PNC began a shameless and barefaced series of attempts to rig the elections which would finally come to an end on August 3, 2020, ironically just 2 days after Emancipation Day. It was 5 months after the March elections and Dr Irfaan Ali was finally sworn in as the ninth Executive President of Guyana. Guyanese could once again exhale!
However, we must never lose sight of the fact that the support of the international community played a vital and crucial role in ensuring that the recount figures were used in the declaration. The ABCE countries, the OAS, Caricom – over 100 countries have all contributed to the successful outcome of the March 2 elections. The travel sanctions by the US had bitten hard as well. In the same vein, we must congratulate our local organisations who fought to preserve our democracy.
We must not lose sight of the contributions of the smaller parties who refused to sing to Granger’s tune and, of course, the “guardians of the ballot boxes” who ensured that the ballots remained intact for the recount. We are forever indebted to all those who stood for upholding truth and democracy. We must also never lose sight of the media which brought the message to the public!
It was the longest election battle ever in the history of Guyana but there are some positives which have been produced. Never again will the PNC be trusted and they have destroyed their image to such an extent that they have been sentenced to Opposition for life.
The name PNC will forever be cursed and it was because of an insatiable greed for power and material gains. During this entire battle, one man has stood out above all the rest, Dr Jagdeo. He knew that the Guyanese people could not afford another 28 years of PNC dictatorship. It had to be done in the PNC’s first term and he did exactly that. His appointment as the Vice President will ensure that Guyana will once again travel the road to peace and prosperity.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
