Dear Editor
GUYANA’s Private Sector Commission (PSC) has endorsed the position of the PPP in a sinister attempt to legitimise an attempted coup — Guyanese must reject it.
On January 16, the PSC officially endorsed the position of Guyana’s political opposition that the democratically elected government of Guyana must resign and call elections. The PSC interjected itself into this political firestorm after the chief justice announced that she will in two weeks rule on the legality of the no-confidence vote, which, if deemed lawful could precipitate elections in 2019.

The PSC is also fully cognisant that Article 106 (7) of the constitution mandates that the government shall only resign after an election is held and a new president is sworn in. Furthermore, the PSC is aware that elections cannot be held unless and until the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is statutorily prepared to conduct such elections.
These facts notwithstanding, the PSC mustered the audacity to lecture GECOM that it must prepare for elections in 90 days. GECOM does not have to prepare for election in 90 days. The election shall be held when GECOM satisfies requirements mandated by its governing statutes and within its administrative capability; none of which is within the purview of the PSC, the PPP’s puppets.

The nation does not need the PSC to lecture it on the lawful course of action if the court does not vitiate the no-confidence vote, the constitution does. And the arbiter of any dispute arising therefrom is the court. Therefore, rather than lecture us about the constitution while running political interference for the PPP, the PSC should engage in more constructive private sector initiatives, such as admonishing its members to pay their fair share of city and corporate taxes and to comply with the nation’s labour laws.

I have friends in the PSC whom I respect. But the commission comprises pseudo-oligarchs who are ensconced in the PPP. Some are beneficiaries of the PPP’s criminal enterprise and the underground economy. They believe they can use their money to buy a PPP victory in an early election, just as they allegedly bought Charrandass Persaud’s vote to enable the PPP’s treasonous plot to overthrow the democratically elected government of Guyana.

Charrandass Persaud allegedly conspired with the PPP and elements in the private sector to overthrow the democratically elected APNU+AFC coalition government. Persaud was allegedly in receipt of a multi-million US dollar bribe for his vote. Persaud does not possess a gold purchase or export licence. However, on December 13, 2018, he attempted to purchase one million US dollars’ worth of gold, allegedly from the bribe proceeds, for exportation to Canada, to where he fled and now lives. He also allegedly attempted to launder undisclosed sums of cash through various businesses, including a gambling operation. The police are investigating these crimes as a national security matter.

The PSC has no interest in this attempt to undermine our democracy with criminality, because this criminal conduct is clearly consistent with its political interest. Hence the rule of law, in connection with this instant matter, appears to be de minimis to the PSC.

Organisations such as the PSC and RISE are not legitimate civil stakeholders in this matter. They are PPP surrogates who are overtly hostile to the coalition government. These PPP agents are attempting to gaslight the nation to believe that the democratically elected government is illegitimate and must call elections. They are like the candy man who sells our kids drugs in candy wrappers. They play with buzz words such as “democracy” and “will of the people,’ while poisoning our democracy with a treasonous coup. They are trying to gaslight us to disbelieve our lying eyes, and that their coup is democratic and that it is our perception of democracy that is all screwed up.

The Guyanese nation must realise that the PSC remained silent as the PPP threatened “widespread violence” if the court rules against the vote. However, if and when the PPP violence commences, it is the businesses that the PSC claims to represent which will be affected first. It is therefore inexplicable that the PSC members found it convenient to take time out from their businesses to lecture the government about the constitution, of which they know nothing, while ignoring this seditious threat that directly threatens business interests and impacts their mandate as the private sector advocate. Obviously, this is because the PSC has endorsed the PPP’s position. This is the epitome of hypocrisy. In its burning quest to help depose the government, the PSC has abdicated its responsibility to the business community.

The youth and people of Guyana should reject these false prophets whose greed and avarice have driven them to become enemies of our democracy. They are destroying our country and the future of our youth. The members of the PSC, RISE and other groups have all been lecturing the nation from their pedestals, as so-called “civil society stakeholders.” But let us watch and see who among them will unmask their pretence to become candidates for the PPP in the next election. Oh what a day that will be!
Regards
Rickford Burke