A PARTNERSHIP for National Unity (APNU) is no different from the People’s National Congress (PNC) of the pre-1992 period, which had ran Guyana for 28 years and the 10th Parliament has been characterised by myopia and vindictiveness.

This is the conclusion of Presidential Advisor on Governance, Ms Gail Teixeira, who during a recent interview, weighed in on the current political environment in Guyana given the impending election. She said that as much as APNU attempts to sell itself as a different political force, it is nothing more than a rebranded PNC.
Teixeira’s remark came as she suggested that the combined Opposition, of which the Alliance For Change (AFC) is also a part has as its intent, “the dismantling of what is the progress Guyana has made.”
She was at the time expounding on the Opposition threats against “developmental projects” being pursued by the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), such as the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the Marriott Hotel, the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant and the Specialty Hospital, among others.
The threat to review every project, according to Teixeira, will not only hold back progress in Guyana but also impact adversely on the investors.
“This country only has a population of 747,000…we are not a country that has ten million people and as long as you have a small population you have also a very fragile economy,” she declared.
This, she said, is complicated by public threats on the part of the Opposition such as statements like: “We are going to review all of the transformative projects…the other party saying we gonna lock them up.”
The fall out, she explained, comes when the investors or potential investors say, “leh we wait…leh we sit back.”
The AFC, according to Teixeira, has been talking about retribution.
She responded to the AFC’s Cathy Hughes, who was quoted as calling for a campaign free of vindictiveness.
But Teixeira questioned: “What can be more vindictive and threatening and intimidating than the threat to lock up people and that you gonna have retribution when you come in?”
As a result, the Presidential Advisor concluded that the postulations on the part of the Opposition have clearly been having an adverse impact even before the imminent General and Regional election.
“These pronouncements by the Opposition must not be taken lightly…I don’t need to go back to the PNC’s track record or pre-92, but I will say this, the behaviour of APNU is no different from what I experienced and from what the PPP experienced when we were in Opposition in pre-92…It is still the same thing, they just got a new name called APNU,” Teixeira said.
The political advisor to the President also questioned what change the Opposition is proposing and wondered whether the PPP/C, as party in government, “is expected to just roll over because APNU and AFC decide that they don’t want this or don’t want that.”
An adamant Teixeira answered by reminding, “we have been elected by the people, we are the single largest block of votes, we are the legitimate government of the people and it is our responsibility and our obligation by the constitution and morally and ethically to do what is best for all Guyanese whether they voted for us or not.”
This, she said, seems not to be the same position adopted by the political Opposition.
“Clearly the Opposition seems to think that those who voted for the PPP don’t count in their books and therefore they are only dealing with what they think are their constituencies…these are issues that have to be given much thought by the electorate as we come to the elections,” said Teixeira.
She reminded too that when the political Opposition secured the one seat majority there was a promise of change with the new dispensation but this did not live up to any of the expectations.
Teixeira drew reference to the fact that during the course of the ninth Parliament, a number of Motions and Bills were approved many of which were piloted by the Opposition during a government-controlled House.
“In contrast, the 10th Parliament has an abysmal record and if this is the example of change they are calling on, if this is the voice of change that was not listened to by the government then they are being extremely dishonest,” said Teixeira.
She used the opportunity also to lament the US$450M ($36.7B) which was slashed from the 2014 Budget by the political Opposition “and so is this the change that they say we didn’t listen to.”
According to Teixeira, the change offered by the Opposition in the 10th Parliament and again now that election is imminent, is that of “myopia.”
The political advisor said that “there is no way that any self-respecting political party would cut a number of major projects…it moves from myopia to vindictiveness and clearly the 10th Parliament, when its legacy is written, when its history is written, it is going to be about vindictiveness.”

By Gary Eleazar