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This was the blunt and pointed assessment by Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy who, in a strongly worded statement to the media yesterday, titled ‘Guyana Under Siege Again’, stated that calls for the resignation or firing of Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, which some say triggered last Thursday’s violent protest actions in Agricola, were just a ruse to mask the true intentions of the AFC and APNU to overthrow the Government of Guyana.
“In this regard, I offer unequivocal support to my comrade and colleague, Minister Clement Rohee, and I say to him: ‘Be strong. You have the distinction of being a minister elected by the people of Guyana and appointed by a legitimately elected President. Only the President can ask you to resign. All others — not Nagamootoo, not Nigel Hughes, not Granger, not Ramjattan, not Basil Williams — who have all asked for your resignation have (no) legitimacy in demanding your resignation’,” Dr. Ramsammy declared.
He stressed that despite what persons in APNU and AFC might want anyone to believe, the chief protestors were leaders of the AFC and APNU; and furthermore, in spite of what both the AFC and APNU might want Guyanese and the world to think, the fact remains that this was another example of centrally directed thuggery of the AFC and APNU.
He said, moreover, that the people of Agricola and the village of Agricola are now being stigmatised just as the village of Buxton had previously been stigmatised.
Dr. Ramsammy noted that although the leaders of those parties might have mobilized some citizens from Agricola, some of the persons who were rampaging on the East Bank were mobilized from other communities.
“This was no Agricola ‘peaceful protest’; this was the AFC and APNU with their provocateurs, creating mayhem and placing Guyana under siege,” he said.
He added that what was called ‘peaceful’ was a manifestation of the centrally directed thuggery intended to use violence to make Guyana ungovernable.
The government minister also noted that important villages along significant highways are being targeted in order to choke the livelihoods of our people.
Referring to specifics, the minister stated that what the AFC and APNU called ‘peaceful’ protest ended up with significant damage to property; people being beaten; and total disregard for children and the elderly, who were trapped on both sides of Agricola in trying to get home.
Of note, he stated, is that flights were disrupted, and people were stuck in foreign cities because their flights were cancelled due to the disturbance; while people in Guyana also missed their flights, which were cancelled because the AFC and APNU had mobilized people for a ‘peaceful’ protest.
“One inescapable fact is that these protests, called ‘peaceful’ by the organizers, were never intended to be peaceful. They were always being organized with the intent of making the country ungovernable. It is part of the grab for power by putting our country under siege,” he asserted.
According to Dr. Ramsammy, AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes is using innocent Guyanese citizens by misleading them in order that he might hijack leadership of the AFC, to carry out his own obsession for power and to act out his hate for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
“In the process, he does not care who is hurt or what damage is caused. Now he is joined by other people who also act out of hate, such as Moses Nagamootoo… The people who we saw hurling bricks and bottles, who were carrying cutlasses and other weapons, who were blocking the highways; and the people who were robbing and beating people were organized by these bitter, power-hungry people,” Minister Ramsammy stated.
He said he is accusing the leaders of the AFC and APNU of trying to do what they could not do in free and fair elections and under the practices of a democratic constitution; that is: of using violence and disruption to make Guyana ungovernable.
He emphasised that they are the intellectual leaders of the violence which emanated from Thursday’s protest, and he accused them of being responsible for the robberies, the violence, and the trauma meted out to innocent Guyanese.
“If this is not true, let them condemn the actions of blocking highways and robbing and beating innocent Guyanese. Let them condemn those who were actually doing this. Let them be unequivocal in their condemnation of the actions yesterday (Thursday). Let them support the police to take all necessary legitimate actions to restore law and order when such ‘peaceful’ protests end up with violence and disruption of people’s lives,” he stressed.
Dr. Ramsammy is urging the AFC to tell the people in Berbice who voted for them how they are using those votes.
“Let them have a clear understanding of the AFC’s use of political power. Let them see how the AFC is taking their votes and joining with APNU to cause harm and inconvenience to the innocent citizens of this land. They have squandered your votes and (are) using your votes to put Guyana under siege,” he declared.
The minister asked the leaders of those parties to imagine the pain encountered by those mothers who had to go to work to earn a daily income, and having their children home starving just because they were stuck in traffic. To add salt to the wound, he said, some of those same parents were beaten and robbed of their cash and jewellery, all in the name of ‘peaceful’ protest.
“These shameless people, people like the APNU and AFC leaders, stooped so low they even robbed children of their lunch and school bags. Children were robbed of their money and other belongings,” he added.
In our just recent history, he pointed out, innocent citizens and residents of Lusignan, Bartica, Agricola, and Essequibo and other villages were slaughtered; some were shot while in their
sleep, while others were pulled off their jobs and shot execution style.
“But did we see people of Lusignan, Bartica or Essequibo burning roads, breaking vehicles and robbing innocent civilians?” the minister asked.
According to him, those acts fitted into the overall plan of people such as Nigel Hughes and others of overthrowing the Government.
He said the AFC and APNU have their own agenda, and they are using excuses to carry out an old strategy similar to the famous X-13 plan of the PNC — to grab power by all means.
“We live in a democracy; and in any democracy, there are rules we play by. After the shame of Linden, we now have a Commission of Inquiry. But the AFC and APNU cannot now wait for the results. The truth of the matter is that what happened in Linden had nothing to do with the people’s concerns about electricity rates. The people’s concerns were merely the vehicle, the excuse for carrying out the heinous acts of disruption and making Guyana ungovernable,” Dr. Ramsammy stated.
He noted that there are many things that concern citizens, and these are matters for peaceful protest and for consideration of leaders. He added that the people of Linden had legitimate concerns about electricity rates, explaining that anytime there is a change in privileges people enjoy, concerns will arise.
“But the truth is these concerns were transformed by the leaders of APNU and AFC into their villainous efforts to grab power by illegitimate means. The people of Linden were victims, not of the PPP/C’s efforts to standardize electricity rates into a fair and equitable system for all citizens of Guyana; they were victims of the wicked machinations of the AFC and APNU,” he related.
“Most Guyanese were affected. But I ask Mr. Hughes and Mr. Nagamootoo and Mr. Granger and Basil Williams and others why is it that a certain section of the population always seems to be the main targets. Is it because they might have voted for the PPP/C? Is it their religion? Is it their ethnicity?”
The minister said he is not afraid to say that most of those robbed and beaten were of one ethnic group, and he asked why this was so.
Also, as a senior member of Guyana’s Parliament, Dr. Ramsammy is calling on the leaders of the protest, who are in Parliament, to resign.
“Today, I say that those who voted for freedom and democracy, those who voted for the continued development of our country, say to the leaders of the AFC and APNU, who are in Parliament: ‘Resign! You have disgraced our country and our people far too often’,” he stated.
PULL QUOTE:
“AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes is using innocent Guyanese citizens by misleading them in order that he might hijack leadership of the AFC, to carry out his own obsession for power and to act out his hate for the PPP/C. In the process, he does not care who is hurt or what damage is caused. Now he is joined by other people who also act out of hate, such as Moses Nagamootoo…The people who we saw hurling bricks and bottles, who were carrying cutlasses and other weapons, who were blocking the highways; and the people who were robbing and beating people were organized by these bitter, power-hungry people.”
– Minister Ramsammy
