Dear Editor
MANY Guyanese have been wondering why Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo does not seem to want to give up the political limelight; and then it dawned on me that this man has not shelved his political ambitions, but merely put them on hold for two major reasons.

First, with the growing evidence mounting from SOCU and SARA about the monumental corruption that was a tangled ‘weave,’ Mr. Jagdeo wants to put a halt to the work of these agencies because of who they are investigating – many friends and associates of the

former president! As the British and U.S. ambassadors have noted, these cases take years to build and prosecute successfully and with the passage of time, SOCU and SARA seem to have begun to make a mark and this is sending shivers down the spine of some very influential people in the Guyanese society. Thus, many of them would love the roll-back of the work of these agencies, even if it meant Guyana would be blacklisted as a financial pariah on the international stage. A win for the PPP means a win for Jagdeo, these ‘bigwigs’ and corrupt political interests. The current situation in Guyana–make no mistake–was a well organised and oiled machine of business and political interests getting together and plotting and colluding with the final act of treachery – the icing on the cake!

Secondly, with the current political situation in Guyana, this man is praying and hoping for a “big” PPP win with one ghoulish and selfish objective in mind — it’s all about him becoming president again! This scheming, wicked man is hoping that the PPP will win enough votes to claim 2/3 of the seats in parliament so that they can change the Guyana constitution, removing presidential term limits – that’s his end game. Most Guyanese are not stupid and are wise enough to know that Mr. Jagdeo has enough money and wealth to last five lifetimes with “stuff’ left over, so we know his motivation is not as strong to

become president just to earn a few dollars. It is for this selfish and self-serving reason that he first got rid of Clement Rohee as general-secretary, thus putting him in charge of the party apparatus and he now wants to be kingmaker by selecting the PPP presidential candidate. With that person (looks like Irfaan Ali) being a puppet of Jagdeo (like Donald Ramotar) and a de facto Jagdeo stooge, this warped scheme of his is slowly but surely morphing and taking shape and form. Many Guyanese have already forgotten how Irfaan got to be Jagdeo’s right hand – it was he who basically protected Jagdeo and former Finance Minister Ashni Singh in parliament from the appropriations scandal (go check the archives for that one please) that should have ended their reign much earlier, as governments elsewhere fall for many fewer transgressions than that!

Finally, editor, make no mistake about it, the former president has such a big ego and long memory and is so vindictive, that he is salivating to ‘make them pay’ – that is, for the embarrassment of him and the former attorney general and other PPP ‘big ones’ to turn up at SOCU like common criminals and white-collar thieves. He is like a shark that smells blood and is closing in on his intended victims with big plans to “teach them a lesson” and remember all of this, even though he is not the president! He needs to be stopped from achieving his goals and ascending this close to power ever again; and it would be up to the Guyanese people. Pick your poison – Jagdeo and the PPP or a three-year old government that is trying but is not perfect. The choice is clear to me.
Regards
Clyde Pestano
(Brampton , Ontario)