What I am going to say here tonight would make no sense if the PPP's apparent
belief that they have effectively subjugated the afro Guyanese population in
this country is true.
I am not telling anyone to
start any trouble in Guyana,
that would be inciting, and the action of incitement is actually the farthest
thing from my mind, tonight I am speaking to the PPP and their supporters, since
despite everything, I want peace here in this land of ours.
Everyone has a right to their
opinion but right now in Guyana the Roger Khan saga though exciting and
interesting should not cause us to lose sight of the real menace in our midst,
and this diversion is being fuelled by the PPP since an article in the Stabroek
News dated July 10th 2006 captioned "Mrs. Jagan slams US, T&T
and Suriname over way Roger Khan captured" is a case in point, now your all
know my views about Mrs. Jagan, that without her influence over Cheddie Jagan which gave her free reign in the corridors of
power in this country with her communist views and hatred of the Americans, led
us directly to where we are today, in the poor house a divided nation having to
endure a Forbes Burnham and now the PPP, I know ladies and gentlemen, its is a
big charge to be levelled at anyone, but I am not alone, most of you believe it
too, I believe that Cheddie Jagan a young 25 year old
rural Guyanese man and therefore susceptible to the sophistication of a white
American woman whose first entrance into public life in Guyana was confrontational
when in 1945 she openly advocated birth control, for which she was severely
criticised by the Catholics. Now I concede it is of no real significance to us
today but it shows that Janet Jagan entered politics in this country in
controversy and confrontation, traits she still exhibit even today. Recently in
the media a certain female political aspirant, wrote that women must unite and
demand a stop to the political bickering going on in this country for
generations, now since it is my unshakable belief that it is Mrs Jagan that has
caused and has maintained most of the bickering going on over past generations,
you decide how brilliant this statement is, but be aware ladies that mobilizing
women is nothing new in Guyana and that Mrs. Jagan launched the Women Political
and Economic Organisation (WPEO) on 12 July 1945, also to overlook the
empowerment of women in this country by Viola Burnham and her WRSM would be a
fatal blow to her place in history, so I come back to Roger Khan and we must
put his situation in perspective; incidentally you can probably blast the
government of Suriname which sent Khan to Trinidad, but how in the name of
heaven can one legitimately blast the T&T Government and the US government
for their part in the affair? The fact is however that Roger Khan has paid for a
barrage of legal help, which I am sure are up to the task of defending him, this
brings us back to reality because this Roger Khan affair, as if by design, is taking our attention away from the real
issues of the day, I don't think that Roger's predicament is so important to Guyana
as a nation right now that it makes us lose sight of the real issues facing us now
i.e. this 2006 election and whether to vote carries with it a condition that verification
of residency is a legal requirement under the law, and weather the opposition will
be forced to get their will by violence, if they do not get what they perceive
to be justice in court.
Politicians do devious things when
they are unpopular and are looking to get re-elected they devise causes to
remove the attention of their failures within their territories, for example I
extracted the following from the history of Guyana on the internet and which
covers our history from the date of discovery to the date of independence, this
extract covers the period 1877 to 1895 and concerned the Guyana Venezuela
border controversity which was escalating between
Britain and the Venoes with the Americans staying
clear of it, but even though the US refused to be involved in the issue in 1877, by 1886 the policy of the United States began to take a decisive turn
when it offered advice to the British Government to solve the issue.
By 1895, Grover Cleveland, who
was then serving a second term as President, realised that his administration
was losing popularity especially among western and southern farmers and workers
everywhere in the country. He and his Secretary of State, Richard Olney, in an
attempt to divert attention from the domestic problems that faced the US, decided to
adopt a vigorous foreign policy. They therefore decided,
to support the Venezuelan side in the boundary dispute with Great Britain as a diversion to
draw attention away from their incompetence at home.
In Guyana today a general election
can be as little as six weeks away, but the President is running all over the
country breaking evey legal and moral law that exists,
by using his hands which is buried deep in the consolidated fund to give gifts
to aspiring voters, this action is condemned by every media house in the
country even, I am proud to say, the Catholic Standard; ladies and gentlemen this
man and his ministers are currently acting only as a caretaker Government until
elections, since the Parliament which gives them the power to spend
un-allocated money in the national
budget from the consolidated fund has been dissolved, it is an obscenity which
require words that I cannot use on this media, to use state funds to campaign
like this?
Also initiating developmental
works at this time, so close to elections is also illegal under the provisions
of the Representation of the People's Act, where it is specifically stated that
no new expenditures for projects can be initiated less than 3 months from the
date of an election by the administration, so my question is why is the
opposition not protesting in the loudest possible way?
And why are we keeping Roger
Khan and not these issues that will affect our national well being for the next
several decades on the front burner since this election will, in my opinion, be
the last election that either takes us forward or into the cesspit. If after 14
years of misrule the PPP is returned to power, then Guyana is finished.
Jagdeo and the PPP had nearly
14 years to contribute to the development of this country they did not, in fact
they turned what was an incredible economic recovery into a disaster in less
than 7 years, at this time their political and other currency with the
international financial institutions are at an all time low, due to their incompetence
and corruption, so further loans will not be forthcoming unless accompanied by
a feasibility study, that's why the international lenders are not funding the Stadium,
the Berbice Bridge or the Skeldon Expansion but Jagdeo in a last ditch effort
to allow his party to carry region six, a region which is about 20,000 voters
short due to massive migration, since they waited to see what the PPP would do
for them after coming to power in 92 and all they saw was corruption,
incompetence, more poverty and violence so they left, all of the money the PPP
pumped into region 6 since 1992 which was out of all proportion to their
numbers, the people used their democratic rights and voted to take the money to
buy their way to the US rather than stay here with the PPP, but if the PPP and
the incompetents we have at GECOM get their way, these same people who have
migrated will in all probability vote in this upcoming elections.
There are now two cases filed
against the PPP by the PNC opposition, one case challenges the way they
dissolved parliament and extended the date of the elections, and the other is about
the residency issue, I predict that the PPP will lose both cases. So now since
these cases can and will go to the Caribbean Court of Justice which will judge
according to the law and not according to their pockets or their political
persuasion, the PPP would be well advised to sit with the PNC and resolve these
matters peacefully, unless what I said when I started this commentary is true. i.e. that the PPP have subjugated the PNC and its
supporters! If that is so then they can proceed, but if they are wrong; you and
I will have to bear the consequences. Something about that just doesn't seem
fair, i.e. to put us in danger to keep a few corrupt officials in office.
