–Jagdeo says, points to PNC-R/APNU+AFC’s dismal record of not fulfilling commitments, prioritising development of Guyanese

GUYANA’S progress under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) continues to be glossed over by some sections of society, which fails/refuses to acknowledge how far the country has come after being stifled by the People’s National Congress-Reform (PNC/R)/A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For change (APNU+AFC), People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo has highlighted.

Jagdeo, during a recent press conference, challenged the claims made in a recent Stabroek News editorial that there is a fear of retribution in the Guyanese society.
The editorial made the claim that Guyana’s fear of retaliation stems from the colonial past, when a small number of people held political power and dissent was punished severely, and that this fear was further cemented in the country after independence when political parties, especially the two main ones, began to stand for more than just ideological differences. The editorial claimed that the parties became symbols of ethnic and regional divides

The tendency of government critics to ignore the differences between Guyana under the PPP/C and the PNC, and APNU+AFC was not allowed to go unchecked by Jagdeo, unlike in the editorial.
He thoroughly reflected on Guyana’s journey from undemocratic and dictatorial rule towards democracy on October 5, 1992 – a date synonymous with the “return of free and fair elections” to Guyana after the 28-year-long rule of the PNC.
Jagdeo recalled: “So first of all, they rigged elections to stay in power; two, in that period, we had the killing of political opponents.”

The PPP General Secretary then referenced the deaths of political activists, Walter Rodney and Father Darke, and how their killings showed how the-then government impeded on basic human rights such as free speech.
Father Darke, a British citizen who wrote for the Catholic Standard newspaper, and was covering a street protest on Brickdam in Georgetown at the time, was stabbed to death.
Speaking further on the death of Rodney, Jagdeo, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice President, said: “Political opponents were killed for their politics and their belief. Scores of people were thrown in jail for what they said about the government.”
Rodney died instantly when a bomb disguised as a communication device exploded in his lap as he sat in his car.

Rodney’s death ricocheted across the world, and is a major political assassination in the history of the Anglo-Caribbean Region. He was an outstanding international scholar, a crusader for political justice, and a globally respected advocate for democracy in the Third World.
Cementing how dark these times were for Guyanese, Jagdeo said: “We had in that period [under the PNC-R] the doctrine of the paramountcy of the party where the party flag flew over the courts in our judiciary, higher than the national flag…We had in the very same period, no free media where people had to smuggle newsprint into the country to print their paper.”

With all of these infractions brought to light, the Vice President said that the editorial glossed over this period and instead blamed two parties when it was just one, the PNC-R, in office.
He then said to equate the PPP/C and the PNC-R is giving them a “free pass.”

FREE COUNTRY
Addressing how Guyana has moved from darkness to progress, Jagdeo pointed out how political parties now have to work for the votes of the people and the arms of government are separated unlike in the past.
He said: “Look at the contrast today, we have a free media. You don’t find people when they criticise us that you’re going to get them to go get locked up or anything like that… This is a free country.”

PPP DELIVERS
While the editorial made it seem that both the PPP/C and PNC-R just echoes promises without materialising them, the Vice President proved otherwise and said this is not the case for his administration.
He noted that the hallmark of the PPP/C and its campaign has been delivering on its promises. But this cannot be said about the Opposition, Jagdeo said.
Citing just a few examples, Jagdeo said: “I can go through their manifesto in 2015 and they did not achieve five per cent of what they promised…they promised less taxes, they increased taxes. They promised more jobs, they took away jobs from people. They promised greater welfare, and [they] took away welfare [from] children, pensioners, the public, the joint services, etc…”

Comparing the previous coalition’s stint during 2015-2020, to the ruling PPP, Jagdeo noted that all sectors have seen betterment such as an increase in the children’s grant that APNU+AFC took away, more scholarships, more jobs, among other things.
He said: “It’s easy to check our promises now. What did we promise? We promised to restore to joint services bonus. Look at our promises. I can bring them. It’s black and white. We did it. We promised [to] increase the children’s grant, restore it and increase it to $50,000. It will get to that next year. We promised free university education, we’re doing that in the five years.

“We promised 20,000 scholarships, we did 28,000 on GOAL already, but in four years 50,000, if you add the other programs WIIN and BIT etc., we promise to restore the pensioners’ water subsidy and electricity subsidy. We did it.  We promised to resume the land titling activities, we resumed it. We promised to remove all the taxes on production, machinery and equipment.”

With that said, Jagdeo said that the editorial attempted to downplay its accomplishments while normalising the Opposition’s transgressions.