…says Jagdeo misleading supporters, wasting court’s time

RESIDENTS of Berbice, who are eligible to vote, are being urged to ignore calls to not register and ensure they are part of the process, with J.R. Crawford of the Berbice-based The Federal United Party (FED-UP) calling on them to “Please get registered, help the process along, individually, everybody, every little effort helps. Once you are registered, the next step is to fine tune the registration and we will go to the polls whenever that comes about.”

Crawford was a guest on political activist Mark Benschop’s On Air programme `Straight UP’ on Wednesday afternoon, after Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire had thrown out the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) September 18 elections date proposal.

She ruled that the on-going registration exercise currently being undertaken by GECOM is not unconstitutional and confirmed that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Had not fixed a date or timeframe for the conduct of the General and Regional Elections, and declined to grant an order compelling GECOM to hold elections by September 18.

Asked by Benschop for his party’s position on the ruling, Crawford said “We knew from the onset that GECOM has to advise the President when they are ready to hold an election, regardless of what party the people support. All this running around going to the courts is just a waste of time and waste of resource. The PPP, for some reason, are so desperate to try anything. The move that they made in December is one of the biggest failure in political history, it backfired, it didn’t pan out the way they planned it.”

He added, “There is no reason for us to be running around, let the people get registered. As I said from the onset when I came on with `Fed Up’, we need proper registration because there are many folks in Guyana with multiple registration, they are always going to be a threat to free and fair elections , regardless of what party they support.”

“The PPP, for some reason, are running around, as I said couple weeks ago, they are trying to be security guards for their president office and GECOM , they need to be out there to see what is needed for our country,” he added.

Questioned about the mood of the people on the Corentyne following the results, Crawford said that there are people who are sad and those who are happy that it happened, because in all fairness, it (going to the court) is a waste of time.

Noting that Mr Shuman’s little party (Liberty and Justice Party) is doing the same nonsense, “they are wasting time”, Crawford added, “We should be putting ourselves, as political parties, trying to get this process smooth, everybody get registered and let the country go forward, so when GECOM says it is time for the elections, we will go to the polls.”

Benschop then chimed in, “A lot of die-hard (PPP) supporters are questioning. We are talking about the die-hard supporters who seem to be heading over on to the fence now, they are not sure which side they are going to vote, they are getting fed up of the Jagdeo-style of PPP politicking, they are even questioning his wealth.

Crawford, on this note replied, “Definitely, that’s something that I heard from some people today. Jagdeo was President for 12 years, I think, the assumption he made that $156M worth is his presidential salary, but yet, he has a home worth over $250 to $300M, plus he has a very, very, expensive property out in Florida.

“Now, where were these monies, he has more than he worked for, did he inherit these things. They say no, they are saying it is crookish business.

He mentioned, too, that the supporters are feeling that the PPP is purposely turning their backs on the agriculture sector, which they (party) were always supportive of in the days of Mr Jagan, and that they (PPP) are only focusing to get into office to get the oil money.
Remarking that the PPP is doing their supporters a disservice, Crawford reasoned that any political party should be catering for the nation and not just their supporters.

Benschop, in agreeing with Crawford’s remarks said, “obviously, Jagdeo is not catering for his supporters but for himself and the few cronies within his group. Jagdeo is wasting the court’s time, he is showing his true colours and he is a person showing desperation.”