Dear Editor,
Ominous and sinister: Guyana Times’ photo of two undercover Policemen in Parliament sitting at the media table. Were they spying on the media, or the opposition, or both? This report follows the debacle in Parliament wherein Police assaulted female MPs from the PPP. Were those policemen in the scuffle? Unchartered waters for Guyana.
Complaints should be lodged with the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Is Guyana going to be another Venezuela?
Guyana’s democracy is under threat. A PPP- filed pending elections claim continues to languish in the courts despite the law providing for these matters to be expeditiously dealt with. In Parliament, the PPP, as the Opposition, have been deprived of the usual rights to obtain answers to questions. In fact, Parliament sittings have been reduced and compressed, stifling the voice of the Opposition. The Speaker has taken on a distinctly biased view against the Opposition.
Similarly, many of the committees of Parliament have seen a substantially diminished role. The ability of the Opposition to scrutinize has been muzzled. In numerous cases in Parliament, any effort by the Opposition to ensure transparency and accountability has been pushed back on, trampled on, or given “lip service.”
The media have similarly toned down their normal attacks on issues that were commonplace under the PPP. An independent, free and open media now appear under treat or stifled. The result is a toned-down flow of negative articles despite an ever-growing abundance of cases of corruption, abuse of procurement procedures, and a considerable loss of accountability and transparency. No wonder the books of the Government can be falsified, and the President, in one of his rare engagements with the media, say it’s okay to keep the country in the dark.
Undercover Police in the media ranks suggest infiltration to report negative or hostile journalists to the Government, and similarly to observe and report on the Opposition. Guyana is fast becoming a Police state. A Police Commissioner sent on leave. The paramountcy of the Party (APNU) now is clear. Where does it end? Who are the Police reporting to? Is the army intelligence also involved? Are the reports of the undercover Policemen going to the Office of the President? Are the tactics and thoughts of the media being analyzed to determine who is to be muzzled?
Of course, the creation of SARA has further eroded the separation of independent institutions such as the Police. No longer can one rely on independent and professional Police.
More and more, one sees the hands of APNU political direction and bias. The latest example of undercover Police in the ranks of the media sitting behind the Opposition now add greater fuel to a declining democracy.
Little by little, and gathering speed, the makings of a democracy are being dismantled. From the Parliament to the elections Commission, to the sacking of many impartial Commissioners who sit on the various constitutional commissions (some under the pretext of age), to the appointment of judges and magistrates with a bias for the Government, to the infiltration of the media, there is the passage of laws that allow the State, via SARA, to invade privacy, investigate and arrest — all without due process. No wonder there has been no new significant investment, and people increasingly perceive the threat of crime and a loss of personal security.
It is a fact that the loss of democracy — or the loss of the checks and balances that make up a democracy — is highly correlated to a loss in economic welfare. The correlation in Guyana since May 2015 is clearly present. APNU and AFC are quickly dismantling the pillars that make up a democracy:- the dynamic role of a critical media, or meaningful opposition, or independent procurement commission, or fair and independent court of law, or a professional and independent Police Force, or a fair and independent Elections Commission; these are fast becoming “things” of the past.
Our first oil money kept in secret for almost a year and a half, and books of account falsified. A budget with a muzzle on questions from the Opposition. An expanding volume of procurement violations per the Auditor General. Numerous cases of projects with money being wasted or going nowhere. Huge subsides for cheap electricity in Region 10 while dismantling the sugar industry and putting thousands on the breadline.
People and money are exiting the country. Skills and investment dollars are disappearing. No new investment, no new jobs, declining incomes, loss of value of homes, increase bank defaults, increased taxation — the growing tide that will impoverish the average Guyanese. Will Guyana become another Venezuela? Will we have a democracy in 2020?
Sincerely,
Name withheld
