– But lies of Party’s hierarchy still an indicator of its primary policy of deceiving the Guyanese people, including its own members
The first General Council meeting of the PNCR for 2010 concluded on Saturday, 27 March, 2010. At that meeting, Leader Robert Corbin made the announcement that he would not be the PNCR’s Presidential Candidate at the next General Elections.
Now that is one for the books, because he had said that he would abdicate the leadership position if he lost the 2006 elections.  Well, Corbin’s track record, which is synonymous with PNC policy, is that promises are not made to be kept.
The General Council, which is the highest forum of the Party after Congress, was presided over by Party Chairman, Mr. Bishwaishwar (Cammie) Ramsaroop, at the Party’s Headquarters, Congress Place, Sophia.
In a PNC press release it was stated that the Party Chairman “reminded of the growth rate of 7%, which the PPP inherited from the Hoyte’s Administration upon its assumption to office, as contrasted to present Government’s admitted growth rate of between 0% and 2% over the past years. However, he pointed out that the World Bank statistics and indicators from other reputable institutions show that the Government’s statistics are highly exaggerated.
But Government sources pointed out to this, what they term ‘ridiculous misinformation’, being peddled by a Party that failed disastrously as a Government, because, as President Jagdeo had pointed out, Guyana, in 1992 during the PNC administration, was classified as a low-income country and as the poorest country in the hemisphere by the Caribbean Council of Churches in 1991. Also, Finance Minister under the People’s National Congress Administration, Carl Greenidge, in his Budget presentation to the Parliament in 1991, had clearly said that (under the PNC administration, and while both Cammie Ramsaroop and Corbin were senior executives of that Party and Government)  “Guyana is in one of its worst crises – with the lowest production in sugar, bauxite and rice for years, as well as foreign currency shortages.” President Jagdeo also pointed out at that television interview that Guyana was straddled with foreign debt of more than US$2B by the PNC administration.
Today, Guyana is a low-middle income country, and the records are there for all to see – that the international financial institutions, including the World Bank, are praising the PPP/C administration for its fiscal policies that have stabilised Guyana’s macro-economic fundamentals and guided its economy in an upward trajectory, even as the most developed nations in the world are experiencing financial crises and climate change is taking its toll on our major industries.
This shows that Guyana has managed to reverse its poverty trend and has lowered poverty, while similar countries of its size and status have been unsuccessful, even in the Caribbean.
During the Budget debate of 2005 Zulfikar Mustapha spoke of the debt reduction, where the PNC had driven Guyana to its knees, when almost all of our revenues were servicing the external debt, until initially Dr. Jagan and then Bharrat Jagdeo, both PPP Presidents, had succeeded in their efforts to reduce the burden to a mere 4%, which is a major indicator of faith by funding agencies in the PPP/C Government.  He said….”  the IFIs and the donors work with you if you do what you say you will do; if you achieve your targets; if you are accountable and if you have managed well your scare resources. In the last budget (the 1992 budget) of the PNC regime, the then Finance Minister literally accused the IFIs and the donors of starving them of resources.  We all know why!!!
“But the guy tried, Mr. Speaker.  In his March 31, 1989 Budget, he laid his case clearly to the nation.  On Page 17 he says, ‘…no country was prepared to help outside of a signed IMF programme’.
“Mr. Speaker, creditworthiness has been restored to Guyana.  The IFIs are now more eager to lend us money.  Banks only lend money if they evaluate that you have the ability to repay.   This condition now exists and is a sign of confidence in the government and the people.
“Mr. Speaker, in that same budget the then Finance Minister, speaking of his efforts during that 1987 1988 period said:
‘Donors seem particularly preoccupied with proof of the (PNC) government’s intentions and ability to implement hard decisions’
“Mr. Speaker, we still have the donors working with us.  The difference is that they continue to work with us because there is no doubt of our intentions and ability.”
The PNC Press Release continued: “He touched on the poor performance of the sugar and bauxite sectors, and the prospect of low production in the rice sector this year, given the present El Niño conditions.”
The dishonesty of the PNC is so blatant that, although they admit that the less than satisfactory performance in the agricultural sector has largely been because of the El Nino phenomenon, they are yet blaming the Government.
The formerly thriving bauxite industry, and correspondently, the town of Linden, declined sharply under the PNC administration, and it is the PPP/C administration that has continued to pour money and resources to restore both the industry and the township to some measure of stability, and even prosperity.
It is apparent that the opposition parties are gleeful that El Nino is laying waste the efforts of our farmers, which in turn is hitting the national economy drastically, especially in funds diverted to the agricultural sector to ensure that it retains some measure of viability.  The fact that the social sector spending may be reduced, with less benefits accruing to the average Guyanese, bothers them not at all, because egomania is traditionally the primary factor driving the PNC collective and their satellites.
According to the press release “Corbin informed the Council that, since he was not going to be the Presidential candidate for the Party, for the 2011 General and Regional Elections, he had confided in some of those with whom he had met that a major challenge for the Party was to find a consensus Presidential candidate who could win the confidence of the majority of Guyanese for the 2011 Elections.”
This is a tall order indeed.