Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 17, 2015 News
“I don’t want to hear what Burnham did”- E’bo businessman tells rally
Voices have raised against the People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)’s usual campaign tactic of resurrecting the “dreaded Burnham era” – as party General Secretary Clement Rohee described it – as a means of soliciting
votes in General Elections.
This upcoming election has been no different, but more people are becoming tired of this strategy and are saying frankly and publicly, “we are fed up.”
This was made clear during a passionate address by prominent businessman and rice producer Sam Bacchus who during an opposition rally in Essequibo two Saturdays ago, urged citizens not to fall victim to the PPP/C’s scare tactic of reviving the Burnham name and capitalizing on what they believe is an experience under his People’s National Congress (PNC) government that should prevent Guyanese, particularly the Indo-population, from voting for any party associated with the PNC. The PPP/C’s PNC scapegoat has been dead for some 29 years, yet every election he is brought to life.
“Well I don’t want to hear about that. I am an old person and I don’t want to hear about it, much less the young people who don’t even know him,” Bacchus said to the large gathering that congregated at Damon Square, Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.
The guest speaker at the A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) political rally said also that Guyana is facing numerous problems under the PPP/C-government. He was angered by their widespread corrupt practices and failed projects, but became even more incensed when he explained that the PPP/C continues to blame Burnham when they are confronted with these issues.
Bacchus insisted that he refuses to listen about what Burnham did more than 30 years ago. He noted instead, “let us be honest. Let us go to another page of the PNC under (former President) Desmond Hoyte from 1985 to 1992.” He said Hoyte reformed Guyana and brought fair elections to the country. He suggested that it was Hoyte who reformed Guyana and paved the way for the PPP/C.
“Did he not bring back all the food we were quarreling for? Did he not handle all the criminals… and weren’t all of you who believed in the capital punishment happy when he did?” The businessman went further, “I ask you, who it is that allowed for the first time for private millers to export rice out of the country?”
To thunderous applauses, Bacchus charged, “It was Desmond Hoyte in the PNC days… 1985 to 1992.”
“He brought us the Cambio. He introduced economic reform programmes and by 1992 the economy had turned around, and he held fair elections in 1992 when the PPP won and came to power.” “Lest we forget”, he reiterated, “it was Desmond Hoyte who brought fair elections to this country in 1992.”
Bacchus, an influential personality in his home region of Essequibo, has thrown his support behind APNU+AFC. He is one of the country’s many prominent persons who endorsed the coalition, stating that Guyana has reached a point where it has to do away with this “winner takes all” politics and work in the interest of every group that comprises the nation.
He advocated the need for a unity government, telling the gathering that he had promised that he would never mount another political podium unless it was a united force. Bacchus said the APNU+AFC coalition has a lot of good work to do. “They will spend your tax dollars wisely, with parliamentary approval and the necessary oversight, on programmes that benefit people and not rulers.”
He urged the gathering and all Guyana that they needed to understand that they are the electorate and, “we are the power in the country”. Subsequently, Bacchus read a list of citizen expectations which he told the opposition coalition that they must conform to. Among those requests, Bacchus said that Guyanese expect Constitutional Reforms, a return of the constituency system, and extremely important, the power to recall parliamentarians when they do not conform as well as transparent transactions.
He urged the audience that it is time for change.
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