Dear Editor,
I REFER to the recent interface among Attorney-General Basil Williams; Anil Nandlall of the PPP/C; Ralph Ramkarran of ANUG; and the American Chamber of Commerce in Guyana (AmCHAM) at which forum there was a very strong presence of the diplomatic corps and business community.

Reading the remarks offloaded by both these opposition political wannabees does not spring any surprise of any magnitude, since all the occasion did was give them another opportunity to regurgitate their distorted line of the government again becoming “illegal’’ after September 18, in the same breath that it would have become illegal after March 30, which was to have been followed by a “constitutional crises”, the occurrence of which the nation is still awaiting. In fact, there was also a predicted economic downturn, and falling away of investments, which has also failed to materialise, compliments of the “only economist” that Guyana would have ever produced.

As an aside, it is amazing that Bharrat Jagdeo had commenced his grading exercise of the ‘Coalition’ as of 2015, with a grade result that only reflected his intention to distort and misinform on the government’s performance. However, it is ironic that as he graded, the government’s economic performance grew sustainably for the past four years, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s most recent report. And this body is neutral in its jurisdictional assessments, much to the dire disappointment of the Nandlalls, Ramkarrans and Jagdeos.

But back to the central issue. True to form, both Nandlall and Ramkarran sought to invoke what can be interpreted as the post– September 18 bogey of social horrors, conjured up in deliberated distorted minds of spin to give comfort to mental political security. Both Opposition speakers attempted, once again, to impute into the CCJ’s rulings what it was not – specific orders for national and regional elections; even dishonestly making out a case of a national economy and business climate being slowed down because of not adhering to the dictums of the Rule of Law. It was good that the erudite AG, the Honourable Basil Williams, with irrefutable statistics, tore these oft repeated lies and disinformation to pieces. Surely, the ever since dying, bleating sounds of “a suffering economy’’, do not reflect these political naysayers, and political doom-and-gloom configurators whose lust for political power continues to drive them into the abyss of daily political insanity. Instead, the more the foreboding forecasts by these grudging anti-nationals, the more the foreign investors are attracted by the positive glow from the local economy, and jetting in, because of an economic climate that is humming satisfactorily. In fact, it might be a severe shock to these two Opposition politicians that there have been joint-ventures being contracted between many of these foreign investors and local business counterparts.

Unfortunately, both Nandlall and Ramkarran continue to miss a critical feature, deliberately, of events, since the treachery of the NCM. And it is about a government that has followed the rules of due process, and unhesitatingly accepted the CCJ’s decisions, without any public statements that would serve to send mixed signals to the country at large. Maybe, there were those who expected a government falsely accused of being a military administration, to mount a parliamentary coup d’état, with the intimidating presence of security forces in the streets facing off with protestors etcetera. It is the absence of such a scenario that continues to sorely abandon the expectations of Nandlall, Ramkarran and their vested-interest friends, for such is never going to be the Granger administration’s mode of constitutional government. Add to this the fact of the international community clearly discerning an orderly pattern that will lead to a resolution of the current impasse, as well as an Opposition that is as uncooperative as it is dangerously opportunistic, as is so manifest.

Thus, one must ask the question of Nandlall, just how does he see a transition from “constitutional rule” to “political rule” after September 18, and to further claim that such “will allow for the upsurge in economic and social ills… affecting businesses across the country”.

This is absolute nonsense, reflecting again the attempt to conjure up an untoward environment as alluded to above, that has failed to materialise.

Editor, as a nation now being removed from the degradations of over two decades of horrible governance by the PPP/C, it is ironic that Nandlall could be so mischievous as to speak about the expectant “social ills” after September 18. This nation is much improved in 2019, in terms of battling the cancer of corruption; reducing the incidence of narcotics trafficking; and clamping down on money laundering activities, thus denuding the economy of dirty money, making it safer for investors to do business, as eloquently outlined by AG Williams. And with effecting programmes for empowerment of the nation’s vulnerable groups, including Indigenous Peoples and women; upgrading communities and adding both spiritual and material value to citizens, Guyanese now have a better reason for living and expecting the best, thus reducing the likelihood of those “social ills”.

These and other social interventions by the ‘Coalition Government’ explain why the negatives of Nandlall and Ramkarran will not be realised. Business is good, and getting better, because of a peaceful and orderly social environment, continuously made possible by the ‘Coalition Administration’.

Regards,
Earl Hamilton.