–takes aim at hiring of ex-army officers

By Tajeram Mohabir
TOP People’s Progressive Party (PPP) executive member Bharrat Jagdeo has tried to shrug off accusations that the PPP has a racist agenda by countering that the charge is not true, and that under the 23-year rule of the PPP, Afro-Guyanese benefited more than at any time in the history of Guyana.“The evidence will show that in 1992 the Public Service was dominated by Afro-Guyanese, and up until today it is still dominated by Afro-Guyanese. In the 70s, public servants were the middle-class in this country, and in 1992 they were pauperised by a PNC Government when the minimum wage fell to $20 a month by the time the PPP got into office.

“You remember the case of teachers and nurses and doctors and other public servants having to hustle outside to make a living because the Public Service salary was not adequate enough [sic] to maintain a decent life to even feed their families?” the former President, now Opposition Leader, told a gathering of mostly party supporters at the Sleep In Hotel on Brickdam, Georgetown on Wednesday.

He was speaking at a forum titled “Militarisation of the State: Discrimination, victimisation, witch-hunt and intimidation”, attended and addressed by top party leaders, including former President Donald Ramotar, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, and PPP General-Secretary Clement Rohee. That forum decried what the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) calls the “militarisation of the State”.

The charge that the PPP and Jagdeo have a racist agenda has stemmed from comments the Opposition Leader made while addressing a party forum in New York less than a month ago, when he told a gathering of mostly Indo-Guyanese: “There is an assault on our democracy; there is an assault on people of Indian origin; there is an assault on supporters of the PPP.” He added: “It’s good to see so many of you out here, and that you keep the spirit of our community alive. This spirit is essential here for our people to make progress, but it is the same spirit that we need badly back in Guyana now — a spirit of community, to ensure that we defend our people through these dark times.”

RACE BAITING
The Government, in a statement, dismissed Jagdeo’s comments made at the New York forum as “race baiting,” contending that the claim of “assault on people of Indian origin” is despicable, without any basis, and is a complete figment of Jagdeo’s imagination.

“On the contrary, the policies of the coalition Government are designed to achieve the good life for all Guyanese; not a handpicked few, as was the case under the PPP regime, which was rejected by the Guyanese electorate on May 11, 2015 in free and fair elections,” the Government has said.

The Opposition Leader’s New York comments have also attracted heavy criticism from public commentators, but he has maintained that he has said nothing wrong and has spoken out about what he knows.

He explained that some of those who accused him of being racist might be on shaky ground, since at one time or the other they had spoken out against what they view as discrimination against Afro-Guyanese under the PPP.

NO AFRO-GUYANESE AMBASSADOR
Jagdeo has said there was no institutionalised discrimination against Afro-Guyanese under the PPP, but the PPP’s tenure in office had marked a period when, at one time, there was not a single Afro-Guyanese serving as ambassador; and then Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, had told a High Court trial that no Afro-Guyanese was qualified for such a post.

Jagdeo has not denied that acts of discrimination against Afro-Guyanese had taken place under the PPP, but contends that no Government can answer for every person in charge of managing every entity, since “people often act on their own philosophy. Some might be pure racist, and you can’t blame every Government for that, but you can definitely blame a Government when the practice of racism starts to become institutionalized; and what we have seen now is this practice of discrimination on two grounds: race and politics,” he claims.

On the issue of the hiring of former army officers, the Opposition Leader has said that while the PPP is not against the hiring of ex-army officers for Public Service jobs, it is against how this is being done. Acknowledging that ex-soldiers can be integrated into the Public Service, Jagdeo contends that it should not be persons who have long passed retirement age and have been out of the system for a long time.

Public commentator Ramon Gaskin, who also spoke at the forum, said these jobs should be given to young people, many of whom are competent and are willing to serve.

CANNOT DISCRIMINATE
President David Granger has defended the hiring of ex-soldiers, saying that they were hired on the basis of competence and experience. “These are human beings. These are people with skills; they’re not a separate breed of citizens. We can’t deprive them of their rights if they have the talent, the experience, [and] the qualifications. I won’t discriminate against them,” the Head of State said.

He also pointed out that, on assumption of office, there were about 10 officers whom the PPP administration had already appointed. He said everybody recognises that some of the appointments made by the previous administration were of ex-army officers, and nobody criticised them. “Why should they criticise me?” the President asked.

Under the PPP administration, Major-General Joe Singh was appointed Chairman of the National Task Force Commission; Retired Colonel Chabilall Ramsarup was appointed Director-General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC); Colonel Brassington Reynolds was appointed a High Court Judge; and Colonel Jawahar was appointed Accountant-General.