Dear Editor,
I WRITE with reference to MP Annette Ferguson’s missive on crime-fighting in Guyana (Kaieteur News, 21/1/2023).

No one would or should disagree with the Member of Parliament on the urgency of upping the fight against crime. In this regard, I do have a few observations and recommendations for Ms Ferguson, and I expect she will see the larger picture before us.

Editor, before I get to street crime, I must underline that the PPP/C is not a “regime.” It is the democratically elected government of this country. Use of the appellation “regime” has no other consequence other than to besmirch the will of the Guyanese people.

If fact, I must remind Ms Ferguson that the attempt to rig the elections on 2020 was criminal in every respect.

The first victory against crime in Guyana was won after a long and difficult period between early March and early August 2020. Justice prevailed over those in Ms Ferguson’s political apparatus who were bent on electoral fraud. Put simply, the fight against election theft was crime-fighting and the current administration saved the day.

Now, I have a few recommendations for the Hon MP Ferguson. Firstly, please ask the APNU, and perhaps the AFC also, depending on your relationship as of late, to assist in legal law- enforcement efforts in the country.

You cannot support illegal squatting, and illegal occupation of public spaces for the purpose of vending, and then go against law enforcement against these transgressions.

Secondly, ask your own APNU to stop calling for “action” that amounts to threats. These notes of incitement in furtherance of political objectives are likely to graduate into a symphony of discontent, and at the end of it all, the marauding forces of destabilisation will be difficult to contain.

That is a different level of criminal conduct, the sort that threatens the very fabric of public security and democratic governance. Recent pronouncements from many within APNU or connected to it have been intimating forms of political lawlessness.

Third, and finally, why not take a constructive role on the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Security alluded to in your correspondence. The time is ripe for real leadership from anywhere within the APNU. Make effective use of the opportunity, if I may respectfully recommend.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Randolph Persaud