Dear Editor,
Since the PNC-led APNU/AFC lost the No-Confidence Motion vote in the National Assembly, Guyana has been going through very difficult times. This struggle has many dimensions, all of which have consequences for the country as a whole, and for each individual Guyanese.
It is a struggle to defend democracy, to defend the rights of the Guyanese people to elect a government of their choice through free and fair elections. It is a struggle to hold public officers accountable, particularly those in the Executive. It is a struggle to demand transparency in dealing with the people’s business. Indeed, it is the question of good governance.
It is in times like these that we see the mask falling away from everyone, and their true visage being revealed. It is crises like these that bring out the best in some and the worst in others.
The APNU/AFC leadership, together with a few of their sympathizers in the media, have unleashed vicious and vile attacks on the international community. This was in response to the imposition of mild sanctions against those involved in attempts to rig the count of the March 2, 2020 elections, along with their intellectual authors in the APNU+AFC.
One of the charges made is that CARICOM, the US, UK, Canada and EU, among others, are interfering in our internal affairs by calling for the regime to step aside and to allow the real victors of the elections to be sworn in.
That is not interference! Interference is when outside forces take a stand against the people of a country to assist undemocratic forces. This is clearly not the case here.
The stand taken by all the forces internally and externally, to have these elections declared on the basis of the recount, places those governments and organisations firmly on the side of the people of Guyana; the workers, the farmers, the democratically minded intellectuals, the private sector. Everyone!
They have taken a stand to protect our region, to prevent a virus from infecting the democratic traditions of the Caribbean. This is vital to strengthen the democratic credentials of our region.
It will bring greater recognition to the region, and would lead to enhanced economic progress and more influence internationally.
For the US, UK, Canada, EU, Brazil, it will improve their standing too. After all, they are on the side of the people, and for the welfare of this country. They deserve the highest praise for standing up with the broad masses of our country.
On the other hand, many who had some reputation have revealed themselves as anti-nationals. The likes of Hinds, Jeffrey, Lewis, Alexander, Nagamootoo, Ramjattan, Harmon, and most of all Granger, fall into this category. The fig leaves have fallen off, and they stand exposed.
Their defence of the regime and support for stealing the 2020 elections will lead us to a dead end. What is their motivation? Some say it is the love of power; power for power’s sake. It is power to enrich themselves, to run the country as if it were their fiefdom. It is power to corrupt themselves and the minds of many others, especially the young and impressionable.
Some of those not directly in the corridors of power are motivated by their own racism. Their racism has led them into the embrace of the corrupt cabal that is the leadership of the PNC/APNU/AFC.
It exposes the character of others. Let’s take Nagamootoo as an example. In the past, he wrote eloquently about the PNC dictators. Nothing has changed in the PNC. It has not reformed itself. It never apologised to the people of this nation for bringing our country to its knees during the 1964 to 1992 dictatorship period. Yet, Nagamootoo has become one of the main defenders of this gross attempt to steal, to rig. He is defending corruption and supporting the subversion of our rights and freedoms.
This demonstrates a high level of duplicity.
Morality has been kicked into the overflowing gutter, and integrity has been flushed down the toilet. In hindsight, Nagamootoo was obviously not sincere when he was opposed to the PNC, since now he seems to be motivated by the largess gained from the corrupt acts of the PNC.
It would not be remiss to say that the top echelon of the PNC is similarly motivated. Now disguised in self-righteous sanctimony, they level incredible and asinine attacks on the international community, who are most certainly on the side of the people.
So it is very clear that the call to respect our Constitution, to respect the will of the people as expressed in the March 2, 2020 elections, cannot be described as ‘interfering’.
No, this is solidarity, for which all democratically minded and peace-loving Guyanese must be thankful.
Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
Former President
