One could hope, but in actuality, the leopard never changes its spots, and it was only a matter of time before the Joint Opposition exposed their feral fangs.
But this dangerous game of Russian roulette that the Joint Opposition is playing has only one target: The Guyanese nation.
Governments not only comprise a President and ministers of the Cabinet, but integral to the processes of governance in every ministry governing the various sectors are the Heads of Department and the core workers.
This was amply demonstrated when, during the consideration of successive budgetary estimates, Ministers were accompanied by their aides and Heads of Department in conciliatory efforts to compromise with the Opposition and simultaneously demonstrate to the nation that the breakdown in the Budget would indicate that all the transactions projected for implementation are above board, and can be explained in open and explicable ways.
With full media coverage, everyone was privileged to get a glimpse of the major players that support each minister, all of whom play a major part, and are integral to the processes of governance in real ways, because they ensure the daily functionality of the ministries in which they work. And it was apparent to even those who are myopically prejudiced that those key figures that each minister depended on to provide answers to questions posed by the Opposition are primarily Opposition supporters, who are merely executing their professional duties as employees of the State; and each of them performed superlatively well in providing the relevant information to the satisfaction of even the most jaundiced and jaded members of the House.
Yet these are the very persons, among thousands more, that the Joint Opposition proposed to deprive of their jobs by making them redundant due to budgetary cuts with which they are blackmailing the Government in moves to impress their supporters.
And it is to their credit that the government, rather than take the easy route of calling snap elections, was always prepared to compromise, majorly, to placate the egos of the Opposition collective; because it is a fact that only this government has stabilised the country’s economy, and has the expertise to juggle figures to come up with workable solutions in sync with the Opposition’s demands, as with the pension scheme.
It is easy to make demands; children do that with their parents every day, but it is not easy for parents to stretch the budget of the home with a salary that has no elasticity.
The hearts of Guyanese that had been buoyed with the hope of ameliorative measures to bring peace and stability, as well as a sense of security to a community and a private sector that lives in abject fear of Opposition-led “slo’ fiah, mo’ fiah” strategies were once more plunged into gloom when Opposition Leader David Granger went back on his word that he had given to a governmental delegation headed by President Donald Ramotar.
Again, they are issuing threats that will destabilise the peace of the nation. And one wonders: When will they stop?
