THE Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO), youth arm of the People’s Progressive Party, said in a release that it is concerned at the sudden and unjustified withdrawal by A Partnership for National Unity/PNC/R 1G from the ongoing public debates on corruption.
The PYO, in a release, said the opposition, APNU included, has enjoyed the freedom to level unjustified accusations of corruption against the People’s Progressive Party and the PPP/C government. However, when they have been invited on live broadcast programmes to confront the PPP/C on these accusations, they have tucked their tail between their legs and run away.
“Over the past few months, the opposition has been allowed to peddle countless accusations of corruption against the PPP/C, and this was given additional fuel by some sections of the media, who have apparently fallen into the trap of the opposition,” the PYO said.
It added: “Against this backdrop of conflicting information, the PYO, which represents youths from across the country, was pleased when this series of debates was announced, as it afforded everyone, particularly the younger generation, ready access to the facts which will empower them with information and aid them in making more informed decisions.
“This is even more crucial, as a number of projects brought under scrutiny by the opposition were transformational ones which would open new sectors in Guyana, or revolutionize existing ones such as renewable energy, conservation, information technology, tourism, land and air transport, and health, among others.
“Better information would assist our youths in career planning. As such, the PYO finds it unpardonable that every effort has been made by both the APNU and AFC to delay these initiatives, either by using their one-seat majority in the National Assembly to slash funding, lobby against them because of personal business interests, or create as much misinformation and vilify the projects using some in the media, so as to discourage these investments.”
The PYO observed that even more disconcerting is the fact that the opposition grouping never misses an opportunity to expound how much they care for the youths of our nation; yet, by their actions, the future of our youths are threatened.
“With APNU’s announcement that it is withdrawing from the public debates and then seeking to downplay the issue of corruption by statements such as it is a ‘narrow window’, (they are exposed) as completely devoid of any intellectual fortitude.
“This obviously fair process has allowed the PPP/C, the APNU and AFC equal access to the public, with the involvement of professionals and the private sector.
“Unfortunately, the APNU-PNC/R 1G, knowing their diatribes are fanciful and not based in reality, have decided to shirk fairness.
“We should not be surprised. This has been their modus operandi over the decades, numerous name changes notwithstanding,” the PYO charged.
The PYO noted that the opposition parties have turned to the only avenue available to them. They have been well schooled in the Goebbels art of propaganda, and with duplicitous help of certain media houses, have again engaged in a campaign of disinformation.
“The ongoing debates provided the opposition with the ideal opportunity to embarrass the PPP in a very public and national way, an opportunity that a mature and competent political organization would have grasped, the PYO asserted.
“However, they are well aware that their accusations are based on innuendos and outright fabrications. They knew that with the PPP given the opportunity to confront its accusers in a public forum, the PPP would have resoundingly embarrassed them. The opposition has already experienced, and is still smarting from, such defeats. The NICIL debate and the recent corruption debates reveal beyond a shadow of a doubt that the opposition has no basis for their accusations. They have shown that the opposition, like a magician, has to rely on the sleight of facts,” the PYO said.
The PYO stated: “Therefore, they have decided to take the road of the goon, the hoodlum, the gangster. They peddle lies, rabble rouse, and then fan the flames — flames that do not discriminate! Flames that have already taken a toll in places like Linden, where a school, health centre and the economic image of a town were completely destroyed.
“The opposition has shown that they care little for the magnitude of their collateral damage. They have shown that they will employ every deceitful gimmick afforded to them. They have shown themselves to be utterly craven and vile. Their flight from further debates has denounced them as curs not worthy of representing the Guyanese people.”