AS fast as the PPP/C slaps down the unfounded claims of the opposition, they’re recycled in an echo chamber of like-minded bedfellows. Unsurprisingly, political discourse among the rank and file of APNU+AFC lacks integrity. It is futile to have a frank and open discussion about democracy when a clique of writers can’t muster the courage to show a modicum of honesty.

Just last week, a so-called champion of workers’ rights, Lincoln Lewis, attempted to weigh in on whether “the quality of governance being delivered by the PPP is consistent with the constitution.” He encourages all Guyanese to follow the exchanges over the country’s constitution between Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan, but he fails to make a compelling case.

Lewis claimed that Nandlall and the PPP are deceiving Guyanese by exploiting their ignorance of the guarantees outlined in the country’s constitution. He stated that if Guyanese were aware of the contents of their constitution they would “demand a better way of life.”

A cursory observer is well aware that during APNU+AFC’s time in office, they belched up five years of failed policies. They were so ludicrous that calling them policies is a compliment. Lewis and his cronies weren’t calling for constitutional enlightenment during those years. Ignorance was bliss when his friends in government ignored a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly and used every waking hour leading up to the March 2, 2020 vote, rallying their foot soldiers and sinking billions of taxpayers’ money into orchestrating a plot to steal the election.

Lewis flippantly dismisses Nandlall’s poignant reminder of the 2020 trauma as the PPP/C’s “usual mantra.” Attempting to rig an election is more than just a slogan. It goes to the heart of what separates democracy from autocracy. Lewis is peeved with Nandlall and makes no bones about it while he sets about echoing his own mantras, beginning with an electoral dispute 27 years ago.

Lewis omits to tell his readers that while the High Court did vitiate the results of the 1997 Elections, the decision was stayed to allow GECOM to file an appeal because not to do so would disenfranchise thousands of legitimate voters. An appeal was not filed because the issue that the High Court based its decision on – voter’s registration cards – was resolved ahead of the 2001 national elections. The Carter Centre’s 44-person delegation that monitored that election “concluded it met international standards, with peaceful and orderly voting and high turnout.”

Echoing the allegations of another frequent contributor to the Village Voice, a PNC mouthpiece, Lewis awkwardly lifts whole sentences from Randy Gopaul’s columns. Gopaul, who claims to have a master degree in political science, claims that Sam Hinds occupied a parliamentary seat for five years and alleges, without a shred of empirical evidence, that there were “irregularities in the 2020 Elections within PPP’s strongholds, particularly on the lower East Coast of Demerara.”

Lewis and his dimwitted PNC diehards claim that the PPP/C “has no regard for good governance, human rights, law and order” and that they are ignoring Article 13 of the Constitution that mandates “inclusionary democracy,” claiming that it is “the principal objection” (he meant objective) “of the political system.”

Since taking office in 2020, Nandlall and the PPP/C have delivered potable water to over 90 per cent of Guyanese, built and renovated hundreds of kilometres of roads, distributed thousands of house lots along with millions of dollars in cement and steel vouchers, constructed hundreds of homes for the poor and disabled, created skilled high-paying jobs, put thousands of dollars into the pockets of ordinary Guyanese who now have access to better health and educational opportunities for themselves and their children. And that’s a short list of real policies that are paving the way towards prosperity for all Guyanese.

Lewis conveniently ignores these stunning accomplishments and instead recycles a tired allegation that “society is being suffocated by a bunch of lawless men and women,” repeating the odious allegation that hundreds of men were extra judicially murdered between 2002-2006 during the Presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo.

Lewis, Gopaul and a clique of PNC pundits know this is a malicious lie, but they persist nevertheless. At his weekly forum with the press, Vice President Jagdeo called their bluff. He announced that he would strike a commission of inquiry into what actually took place.

Instead of applauding Jagdeo’s announcement, Aubrey Norton, leader of the PNC, called the announcement “a joke” and said no one would accept a probe set up by Jadgeo. Norton could have welcomed the Vice President’s announcement and insisted on being consulted on the terms, composition and scope of the commission. Instead, he made himself an object of derision.

Like former President David Granger who had promised to strike a commission of inquiry but never did, the titans of the PNC have no interest in putting this allegation to rest. It plays conveniently into their warped victimisation narrative that one racial group is being persecuted by another.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.