Dear Editor,
What have the Opposition offered apart from wantonly and shamelessly criticising and condemning the 2022 Budget? The Coalition presented ‘the good life’ Budget to this nation year after year since 2015, but it was the mother of all ironies that they viciously snatched away the good life which Guyanese enjoyed under the PPP/C Government for 23 years. Now that Guyanese are once again enjoying the good life, the Opposition and some biased commentators are once again singing the corruption mantra.
The Opposition need to review their dismal and disgraceful performance record which reek of corruption and mismanagement. The Coalition members of Parliament should review the constructive debate presentations which were done in Parliament from 2015 by the PPP/C Parliamentarians. The PPP/C MPs not only exposed the many flaws in the Coalition’s budgetary allocations and inherent policies, but also provided alternatives with clear courses of action to be taken, and the pitfalls were highlighted which, if implemented, would have been counterproductive to our socio-economic development.
Monies were snatched away from transformational projects and plugged into areas which were non-productive and resulted in massive wastage and theft. These pitfalls and inherent weaknesses were eventually substantiated by the downward spiral of the economy, and the massive corruption which had ensued is well documented by the Auditor General’s Report year after year, yet the Coalition did nothing to correct its subsequent budgets and put a halt to the multitude of corrupt practices which pervaded every stratum of its governance. The corruption is well documented.
Now they want us to believe that the PPP/C Government is corrupt. The Coalition MPs’ flaccid arguments and age-old cries of corruption are laughable when the undeniable fact is that their period of governance was riddled with corruption, mismanagement, and deliberate wastage. The Coalition’s presentation in Parliament exposed to the Guyanese public that they will never be able to govern this country, and are incapable of constructive arguments. It exposed that all they are capable of is violence, vulgarity and uncouth behaviour, coupled with lies and deceit. Have the Coalition’s MPs ever apologised for their lawless and indecent behaviour in Parliament? NO! That is how they debate!
The PNC rigged all the Elections from 1968 to 1985, have they ever apologised? They have attempted to blatantly rig the 2020 Elections, have they apologised? The PNC-dominated Coalition continues to contaminate this land with their divisive political agenda about marginalisation and corruption.
It is becoming increasingly manifest that Vice President Dr Jagdeo is again being targeted in the press, and the interview by Vice News has that unmistakable agenda to aid the Opposition to stimulate and nurture the perception of corruption, which the PNC and certain commentators used to perfection prior to the 2015 Elections to destabilise the PPP/C Government. Where was Vice News during the tenure of the Coalition? Where was Vice News when Mr Trotman signed the Exxon PSA in 2016?
In 2018, the then Minister of Natural Resources, Mr Trotman, had said that there is no legal basis to challenge the PSA between his Government and Exxon, yet there was no interview by Vice News. Why? Then the mystery of the US$18M Signing Bonus, why did Vice News not interview the then Finance Minister? And the list goes on. There are documented acts of corruption against the Coalition Government, yet Vice News and others are going after perceived corruption and hearsay.
Is this the modus operandi of a responsible media house? No wonder media and business analyst Mr Rick Edwards of the Poynter Institute described Vice News journalism as ‘raw and tasteless, and more akin to personal essays than balanced journalism’. Vice News, upon a bit of investigation, would have known that VP Jagdeo and other members of the PPP Government do submit their financial statements to the Integrity Commission on an annual basis, and it was just as simple to contact Mr Su and verify the veracity of the allegations. But then that would not have satisfied its agenda.
Furthermore, it would seem that the new Opposition Leader was awaiting an opportunity to display his ignorance and establish himself as an incompetent leader, and at the same time, certain media houses cannot resist the temptation to publish the ‘juicy news’. Can you imagine that Mr Norton was reported as saying that the PPP Government officials ‘have mastered the art of keeping their tracks clean’? Is this an admission that the Coalition’s officials stole but are unable to cover their tracks? It is quite an allegation by the Opposition Leader when there is no evidence but simply conjectures and suppositions.
In conclusion, the PNC-dominated Coalition must come to realisation that Guyanese will no longer fall for this corruption mantra. They were deceived once by this and the many false promises, but not again. The Coalition must do the hard work to be a responsible Opposition, and do some sanitising within their ranks. As it is, they will never again be trusted to form any Government. At the same time, media houses must ensure that they do the hard work and do investigative journalism when reporting certain sensitive issues. They owe the public that responsibility.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
