THE political opposition in Guyana is certainly exhausted and frustrated, due to their desperate gallops in search for issues to confront the PPP government. With such stance, one therefore has to understand why David Granger is asking the nation not to look backwards. They have ransacked their tracks.
The PNC government which came to power in 1964 through the dishonourable manipulations of the imperial powers found a financially viable nation called British Guiana with a foreign debt of only US$127.2M. And the previous PPP government had set aside a sinking fund to pay a part of that debt. The US dollar was then trading at a fluctuating rate of around BG one dollar and fifty five cents to one United States dollar.
But when that fraudulent PNC government was thrown out of power in 1992, it had amassed a debt of  US$2.2 billion and we Guyanese were required to spend some 90-odd per cent of our GDP (revenue) to service that debt.
No wonder there was no money to import food and as a result criminal charges were proffered on us Guyanese if we were found with wheaten flour, cheese, sardines, butter etc. And it is still no wonder that the late Desmond Hoyte had asked us to give the new PPP government a chance to run the government because, as he said, it could not have survived for another six months then. But we all now know the truth. The PPP government performed with flying colours and President Jagdeo deserves a lot for saving us.
The PNC government did not produce any Audit Report since 1979 and there were no Hansard Reports of Parliamentary dealings. So we have to wonder what happened to all the millions collected from us Guyanese during that and previous periods.
Now the opposition is raising the issue of the pension benefits for President Jagdeo. At least, this issue was debated and passed in the Parliament. And, the benefits are not assigned to Jagdeo per se, but to the holder of the post as a President of Guyana.
Even though President Desmond Hoyte rigged his way into power, he received a yearly clothing allowance of $9M. Should anyone else get that position, he or she will receive such likely benefits; and it is certainly an infinitesimal amount as compared to the unaccounted monies of the PNC administration. The grant of such complementary benefits are also evident to worthy performers in sports, be they cricketers, boxers, stage performers, singers, etc.
Without going into details, I would say that as long as we were bestowed with a conscience, we will certainly conclude that Bharrat Jagdeo has served this country well, and has lifted this country to another level. This sort of going-on has endured the test of time, and is still practised in jealousy. As the Bible mentioned in Genesis 37.19.20:
And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say: Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.