From the time Dr Jagan entered into politics he was criticised for just being himself and he had to defend himself on the street, the press and in Parliament. Dr Jagan, Gandhi, Nehru, Nelson Mandela, etc, had the same beliefs. Dr Jagan was criticised for those beliefs and the same persons who criticised him praised Gandhi, Nehru and Mandela.

Ramsaroop and the rest like him criticise the PPP on a daily base. They do not analyse the country’s situation and stop at nothing to belittle the government. Ramsaroop’s daily writings about VAT have become a broken record.

In an article “trouble times ahead,” in the South Asian Observer it stated that India is caught in an unwelcome situation at present, almost in a dilemma about what it should do to come out of it. The prospect of a 9% or a 10% was projected on the screen by responsible leaders who knew their economics. The thing that turns the nation hopes into despair is the slowdown brought about by the recession abroad.

In North America where the recession has hit the hardest the government did not lower the taxes. The price of every essential item has gone up by nearly three times while wages has gone down and layoff has become a norm of the day. The VAT tax in North America is called the GST and the PST and it is 14% and the government in these rich countries cannot afford to lower it much less poor ones like Guyana.

In the nineties the Liberal Party promised the people that if they will get rid of the GST and the PST if they are elected to the government. When they were elected they discovered that they cannot run the government without that tax and it is there to this day. The conservative told the people the same thing and what did they do? They reduced the GST by 1% raised the health tax and put the government in a deficit.

All countries in the world have some form of VAT and it is there to stay. If the governments could have done without it I am sure they would have removed it.

The PPP in and out of government has been criticised for one thing or the other. Dr Jagan and the PPP were criticised for being Marxist and anti-capitalist. Today the capitalist free market system which people like Ramsaroop back is in crises. Guyana is not in a crisis as yet but the crisis will hit it some time because we are linked to the world trading system. The PPP has never denied that.

The PPP knows how to get out of any crisis.
For twenty eight years they survived as one the most powerful opposition in the world. In 1957 when they took over the government they brought the Dollar from $1.75 to$1(US) to $1.08 to $1(US) and we know how it developed the country although it was pressured by the USA, England and the opposition.

The PNC took over the government in 1964 and when they were thrown out of the government the country was in shambles. The Bank of Guyana was $400 million in the red and everything was broken. Today the country is developing more than any other country with little wealth. Although the government is doing so much yet they are being criticised by some just for the sake of being critical.
Remember if you go to crab dance you are sure to get muddy.
JAGESSAR SUKHRAJ