Dear Editor,
AFTER the announcement of the salary increase for public servants by the Minister of Finance yesterday afternoon, we saw the opposition lashing out on social media criticising the seven per cent which was announced.

However, it was shocking to see that after more than a year, many of them continue to spread lies on their social media platforms regarding the promises made by the PPP/C Government. The fact of the matter is that the PPP/C never campaigned on the promise that public servants will receive a 50 per cent salary increase.

In fact, the PPP/C’s manifesto which is easily accessible to everyone will prove that such increase was never promised by the government. This is all public knowledge and it’s shameful that the opposition would try to use such a false narrative for political gains. However, I believe such should be expected from people of their calibre. Dishonesty is all they know.

Editor, even though we know that the APNU+AFC has been focused heavily on derailing the government in every possible way, it is surprising to me that the Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman, would also play into this false narrative to paint the government in a bad light.

I say this because I always thought of him as a man of integrity and one who is for the people. As a member of the opposition, one would expect him to be critical of the government whenever necessary.

But, how can he criticise the government for something that they did not do? It makes no sense. Shuman was one of the first persons to use the photoshopped image of a supposed “PPP/C campaign poster” promising 50 per cent increase to public servants, questioning how come only seven per cent was announced. When the dishonesty was challenged by supporters of the government, he quickly deleted the Facebook post.

As I pen this letter, I take note of the fact that Kaieteur News also repeated the same lie with the 50 per cent salary increase “promise” in their November 19th publication. I wish to make it clear to all those who may be unaware that the image that is circulating on social media with the PPP/C’s campaign poster is photoshopped. In fact, people should question how come there is only that one image of the poster being shared everywhere. If the PPP/C did campaign on such a promise using posters as the opposition claims, why is there not a second image anywhere of the very poster?

The image being circulated is the only one that was doctored by the APNU+AFC in another attempt to discredit the governing party by creating false expectations that are unable to be met. Any right-thinking individual would see that the only image being shared is one with a very specific background and from a very specific angle. I challenge anyone, even the fiercest PPP/C critic, to dispute this by providing a second image of the very poster. It is not possible because the poster never existed in the first place.

Yours sincerely,
Thomas Cole