Quem dues vult perdere demenstat prius.  (Whom the gods wish to destroy , they first make them mad). Just under a month ago, Guyanese from all political, religious, cultural and ethnic persuasions across the country were kept abreast, first with the presentation of the country’s historic national budget for the fiscal year 2012. The presentation of the budget went down as smoothly as it could have ever been with literally no tantrums from the two opposition parties in the national assembly.
But the peace-loving Guyanese people were thrown into a rapid state of disbelief, just days before the passage of the budget, when the combined opposition in their true charlatan qualities, although giving approval to the document, short-changed it by some $21B.
Like the Latin quotation above, these politicians in the combined opposition, who, without rhyme and reason, but for fancy, slashed the budget, must be going mad indeed. It is difficult for any politician with a burning desire to serve the interest of all the people of this country to butcher the budget to such an extent that it now paints a gloomy picture for thousands of Guyanese from all walks of life who would be affected by the discontinuation of some key developmental projects that were listed for budgetary considerations. Also, hundreds of workers in direct employment will now join the breadline.
All of this will become a reality in Guyana, thanks to the draconian action by the opposition APNU and AFC. But politicians at times differ to suit occasions and this is one of the occasions that the politicians in the AFC and the APNU are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.
The general and regional elections of November last year were held not so long ago, and the people remember only too well, the major themes of both the APNU and the AFC in their bid to lure voters into their camps. They used the questions of old age pensions and unemployment as their high flyer in their campaign strategy.
The people also remember opposition leader and leader of the APNU David Granger, at his political rallies in particular, pumping up both old age pensions and unemployment, telling his followers that the PPP/C government has no proper policy geared for creating employment for especially the young people of this country.
But towards the end of the budget debate, the APNU and the AFC slept together; hee-hawed together; wined and dined together before coming up with Shylock’s knife slashing left, right and centre in their mad hunt for political vengeance. When toothless politicians want to flex their muscles, they throw caution to the winds and by their very actions, they reveal the real manifestation of their characters, as in the words of Ernest Benn: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedy.”
This could be no further than the truth when the opposition using their one-vote clout in the National Assembly, in gross recklessness butchered the Customs Anti-narcotics Unit (CANU), The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and the State Planning Secretariat when they made a total cut of $224.419M from the Finance Ministry’s estimates for subsidies and contributions to local organisations. These three bodies along with the National Communications Network and GINA along with a few others have all become $1.00 a year organisations, thanks to the political blindness of the opposition.
But in their ride for vengeance and hate, the charlatans in both the APNU and the AFC were caught with their pants down as their Shylock knife did not spare some of their own supporters in the government’s employ;but  as reckless and wicked as they could be, they could not care less.
The people recall that the AFC led by Nagamootoo and Ramjattan crept secretly into bed with the APNU and the master plan to fire 38 workers from GINA was hatched. It is incomprehensible to believe that Nagamootoo was part of this sordid plot to rob media workers and their families of their daily bread.
This begs the question whether this is the same Nagamootoo that once upon a time championed the cause of media workers in Guyana, especially state media employees, and more so when he was Minister of Information, out of which GINA was born. Cry shame Nagamootoo, cry shame. Shame on you!
When people defy all sense of reason and logic, they could never be respected as genuine leaders who may at some time in their lives aspire to high positions in society. They must remember that Guyanese are no longer fools and they are looking very intently at the mad rush by the combined opposition. Time is the healer of all wounds.