– says Guyanese are not fooled
THE weekly column by the Alliance For Change (AFC) in the Kaieteur News on Sunday, under the headline ‘Degeneration of governance and leadership has led to gross disrespect’, was slammed by the ruling party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee.
Speaking at the party’s weekly press briefing held at Freedom House yesterday, he said, “The Alliance For Change (AFC) is clearly in a denial mode which has prevented them from viewing things objectively and rationally.”
POLITICAL POSTURING
The General Secretary decried the increasingly common show of political posturing among local politicians.
Rohee said, “Today, those who were the architects of our destruction are now posing as ‘born again democrats’ and ‘freedom fighters’.
‘These are people who are so blinded by hate and prejudice that they are prepared to join forces with even the devil in their vain attempt to bring harm to the PPP/C Government. Guyanese are, however, a smart and discerning people. They are aware of what is good for them and in their best interest’
“Like wolves in sheep’s clothing, they pretend to care but their posturing will not fool anyone, especially those who experienced the past and were the victims of untold travesty during that era.
“…these days it is fashionable to speak of change. But change for the sake of change can be harmful as actually happened when the United Force, a minority party under “(Peter) D’Aguiar teamed up with the PNC to remove the PPP from office in 1964.
“This once prosperous nation was reduced to the poorest country in the western hemisphere, a shame that both the PNC and the UF cannot escape responsibility.”
According to Rohee, from all indications the “AFC has now assumed a role not dissimilar to that of the UF” during the 1960s.
AFC HAND-IN-GLOVES WITH APNU
“It is practically hand-in-gloves with the APNU in trying to destabilise the democratically elected PPP/C administration by engaging in all manner of political subterfuges and blackmail,” he said.
However, Rohee maintained that the Guyanese people will not be fooled by those with “political axes to grind” and whose “only reason for being is to make life difficult” for the ruling party.
The General Secretary said, “These are people who are so blinded by hate and prejudice that they are prepared to join forces with even the devil in their vain attempt to bring harm to the PPP/C Government.
“Guyanese are, however, a smart and discerning people. They are aware of what is good for them and in their best interest.
“No amount of pontification and political rhetoric will cause them to turn their backs away from a national process that is intended to bring joy and happiness to themselves and their families.”
He stressed that contrary to what is being projected by the AFC and other opposition parties and groups, Guyana is today a nation on the move.
“Young people are the major beneficiaries of this change by having access to better and higher education and to social goods and services, including owning homes, vehicles and other luxury items which in the past were broken and unfulfilled dreams,” he said.
A GOOD LIFE
Rohee added that Guyanese, thanks to successive PPP Governments, can once again dare to dream of a good life, secure in the knowledge that they have a friend and partner in the ruling party.
He said, “This inability to come to terms with present day reality could not have been better revealed than in the AFC’s weekly column.”
FACTS
According to Rohee, the column reflects historical ignorance or “mental amnesia”, as he termed it.
He said, “One is tempted to ignore the reference made to the “disrespect” and “degeneration” of governance…the AFC forgot to remember anything about the PNC tenure in office and only about the PPP.
“The AFC analysis therefore is obviously foggy and episodic and not based on facts.
“The AFC is spellbound by their new role in Parliament and display an uncanny lack of familiarity with the dismal record of the past administration.”
The General Secretary underscored the fact that Guyanese live in a parliamentary democracy, in which individuals and political parties are free to participate in electoral politics and to benefit from a process in which they can be assured that their vote will be counted.
Rohee said: “This unfortunately was not the case during the nearly three decades of PNC dictatorial and authoritarian rule.
“If they want to talk about disrespect, this is a fundamental aspect of disrespect. There can be no greater disrespect to people when their fundamental right to elect a government of their choice is taken away from them.
“Indeed, one of the defining characteristics of this PPP/C administration is the fact that we live today in a free and democratic society characterized by good governance and rule of law.
“It is disrespect when people in general and young people in particular lose hope for a secure future.”
He added that there was a time in Guyana when “hopelessness and fear stalked” the land.
“The future for the vast majority of Guyanese was uncertain,” the General Secretary recalled. “True enough there were episodes in our history when there was political degeneration and backwardness. But the PPP cannot in the remotest of ways be held responsible for such a condition in our body politic.”
He pointed out that it was the PPP that restored hope to the nation when it took over the reins of power on October 5, 1992, after 28 years of authoritarian rule.
