PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has rejected the most recent data published by Transparency International (TI), and deemed it a “damp squib”, given the intentional disregard of te government’s efforts.
During a press conference at Freedom House on Thursday, Jagdeo called out local critics of the PPP for having a role to play in this.

He even pointed out other parts of the report that gave contentious data on major countries, which raised questions on transparency and accuracy.
According to the report, the United States (US) saw an 11-point drop, while Venezuela and Canada each declined by eight points.

Owing to the findings of the report, he questioned its validity, since countries such as the US and Canada are often seen as role models for democracy.
“So, often you have to assess these reports in perspective, and in their full complexity,” he said.

Despite the APNU+AFC’s stint in office having reported actions of infractions, the report gave Guyana a high score in that period, making Jagdeo question the accuracy.
He said: “Anything they say about us now will pale in comparison to what they did.”

Jagdeo contended that the local reports being sent globally exclude the infractions under APNU+AFC, and so this resulted in a high score for the country.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali had also questioned the absence of actual concrete evidence, as well as the sources of this data and posited that the report was created with input from PPP critics.

He also questioned the report’s scores in relation to the previous APNU+AFC administration’s stint in office, which was marked by a number of infractions.
He said: “They got a higher ranking for that; the worst period in the history of our country. [Now], more persons are ticketed. More persons are prosecuted by CANU. More persons came under disciplinary measures in all government agencies, but we score less. What nonsense is this? What mischief and misinformation is this?”

The President had noted that if one were to focus on empirical data, one would observe that in terms of project permits, the coalition government had an 89 per cent implementation rate, while the PPP/C government has a 97 per cent implementation rate.
In order to reveal the report’s political motivation, President Ali carefully examined the list of contributors, identifying their connections to opposition figures, and their habitually opposing opinions on government policies and programmes.
The President had provided this damning material, which shows that the report’s conclusions lack impartiality.

He also questioned how a government (APNU+AFC) that attempted to conceal the receipt of a US$18 million signing bonus from Stabroek Block operator ExxonMobil can receive a higher rating on this index.
Pointing to several reports such as that of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFTAF), which recently awarded Guyana the prestigious Best Regional AML/CFT Case Award (BREMOLT), the President indicated what actual objectivity is.
The President maintains that the government’s anti-corruption measures have been much improved, but this fact does not fit the opposition figures’ intended narrative, or their plan to influence public opinion ahead of the general and regional elections in 2025.