The critics are fuming at the success of the public event where President Bharrat Jagdeo was saluted on September 16.

The critics are a small bunch of losers, but they have been loud. While we should not waste time on this small loser-group, it is important to set the record straight.

The people turned out in large numbers for several reasons. The most important of these is that it was President Bharrat Jagdeo who signed term limits into law. Guyanese know that this is a thousand times better compared to what the PNC leaders left behind – stolen elections, debt to the tune of billions, dysfunctional government, kick-down-door bandits, and more shortages of foodstuff and other basics than anyone cares to recall.
It is important to understand that unlike the hopeless years under Forbes Burnham, Hamilton Green, and Desmond Hoyte, the people went to the stadium event of their own free will.

Back in the PNC days, the government used state power to force, yes force entire workplaces, factories, ministries, churches, schools, and the like, to come out and line the streets for the Comrade Leader. Most people lined those streets for Burnham and Hoyte with a sense of shame because of a simple fact – they did not want to be there. David Granger was a big one then, serving the very people who were stealing elections.
What hurts the PNC/APNU and its main supporter, the AFC, is the fact that the Guyanese people did something quite decent. They publicly thanked the president for a job well done, and most of all for respecting the constitution of Guyana. By comparison, when Hoyte reluctantly gave up office he dedicated himself to making Guyana ungovernable.