Dear Editor,

Dr. Rouf Ahmad Bhat wrote in the introduction to his paper entitled, ‘Role of Opposition Party in Democracy’ (the International Journal of Science and Research) that, ‘The opposition is as important as that of ruling party. They ensure that the acts of the ruling party are not detrimental to the interest of general public or nation at large. The role of the opposition party is not to oppose every decision of the ruling party. Rather, it is the duty of the opposition party to support the ruling party for the acts that are in the interest of the nation. The Opposition parties play a very significant role in a democracy as representatives of the people. The opposition act as watch dog of the system. In such countries where there is a two-party system in vogue, the Opposition party forms a shadow Cabinet to exercise vigil over the performance of the government.’
In a previous letter, I had stated that the PNC has never been a Government ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ and in this letter I wish to submit that PNC has never been an opposition which reflects the will of the people. In fact, it has been equally worse as an opposition if not more detrimental to this nation.

What the PNC did from 1961-1964 had set the trend which this nation can expect anytime the PNC is in opposition. The Wismar massacre in May 1964 had set that tone.
Since the 1992 General Elections, the APNU had been in opposition for 23 years and thereafter from August 2020 and they have continued to act against the interest of this nation, including their own members and supporters. An important point to note is that the PNC is the dominant political party in the Coalition and it is the PNC which is the de facto opposition as it was the de facto party when in Government. It is always the PNC in power or out of power, the other parties such as the AFC simply did the biddings and were simply window dressing. These little pawns, completely devoid of any self-respect and dignity hang on for dear life if even just to enjoy ostentatious life-style, which strained the Treasury.
It is an undeniable historical fact that the PNC never behaved as a responsible opposition and displayed this nefarious trait as soon as it lost an election. The PNC rigged all the elections: 1968, 1973, 1980 and 1985 and the Referendum of 1978 and for five long months attempted to rig the 2020 Elections. Another undeniable fact is that whenever the PPP won an election, the PNC greeted this with mayhem, violence, burning, looting and even murder.

What is notable is the fact that this trend started in 1961 when the PPP won that election by garnering more than double the votes won by the PNC. The PNC began its trade mark behaviour: there was mass demonstrations, a general strike and severe and aggravated inter-racial violence piloted by the PNC. This provided the British authorities with the excuse they needed just after a few weeks after the Election to suspend a legitimate government. They sent in the British troops, and the Governor declared a state of emergency. This was tried successfully again in 1998, when The Herdmanston Accord reduced the PPP’s term in office by two years, just to quell the violence against the Indians.
There is no disputing the mayhem and violence which marked its tenure as the Opposition but what is equally dangerous is the penchant of the PNC in opposition to work relentlessly to derail the socio-economic programmes and policies which were implemented to better the lives of Guyanese. This began in earnest after the 2011 Elections which saw the PPP as a minority Government. It must be recalled that the APNU had received 26 seats, the AFC seven seats and the PPP/C 32 seats and this one seat majority was used to its fullest to hold this nation at ransom and to be the basis for the no-confidence motion in October 2014.

Unconscionable Budget cuts saw the socio-economic stagnation of our dear country as many developmental projects came under the ‘scissors’, which Nagamootoo gleefully executed year after year. These acts were detrimental to our socio-economic development and should never have been done; this is not what a responsible opposition should have done. But hit is the trademark of the PNC in opposition. They never supported the Government and their foremost concern was to get into power and feather their own nests.
Fast forwarding to 2020, the Opposition has already begun to unleash mayhem and violence, as was evidenced by its protests of being ‘robbed’ at the 2020 Election polls, and the encouraging of violence on the West Coast of Berbice. With four more years to go until the 2025 Elections, it is anyone’s guess what is in store, especially when the Opposition Leader is already making threats of civil unrest.

In a Democracy, an opposition party should play a very significant role ‘as representatives of the people’. The opposition must ‘act as watchdog of the system’, but in Guyana, the Opposition acts as a predator. If we can do a bit of transposition to Abraham Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg speech, ‘this nation must have a new birth of freedom, and the opposition must be an opposition of the people, by the people, and for the people’. We cannot afford to perish as a nation, because the opposition is self-serving; the opposition must change its course. I encourage Mr. Harmon to read Dr. Bhat’s paper. In the last Election, the APNU+AFC was elected by the people as the country’s Opposition, and they must honour that office, not dishonour it.

Yours sincerely,

Haseef Yusuf