Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 27, 2017 Letters
Dear Editor,
Without a doubt, the greatest obstacle to an APNU+AFC re-election bid in 2020, is the man who now holds the strategic positions of Leader of the Opposition and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo! Now that the Guyana Court of Appeal has cleared the way for his re-election, the PNC/APNU fear of Jagdeo is justified and for good reason. That is why this ruling will soon be challenged in the nation’s highest court, the Caribbean Court of Justice. Although the PPP/C has not made a decision as to who the Presidential Candidate will be, the thought of running against this political maestro must be nerve-racking for the coalition leadership.
For many years while in opposition, the APNU+AFC cleverly executed a long, sustained campaign of destroying the character and credibility of the People’s Progressive Party by painting the Party and its leadership as corrupt and racist. The questions remain; was the PPP/C Administration corrupt, and is the former President and now Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo a racist? Who else is more qualified to answer these questions than someone who had for a long time, been a major critic of both the PPP/C and Bharrat Jagdeo.
You see, years ago while living in New York, I was a known critic of the Jagdeo Administration, writing regular letters to the press demanding transparency and accountability. But back then, I allowed myself to be influenced by all the negative news coming out of Guyana by the independent press, and the daily criticism of the Jagdeo-led PPP government by Mark Benschop on his internet radio, a medium popular among Guyanese in the diaspora.
Over the years since, I’ve tried to right a wrong and to recognize and support the PPP/C for good governance; for rescuing Guyana from economic disaster caused by the policies of the then Minister of Finance in the PNC Government, Carl Greenidge; and for improving the quality of life of every Guyanese, more so, those living in opposition strongholds like Linden and Buxton, and our Amerindian brothers and sisters who have long been neglected by the PNC regime.
I had good reason to justify my apologies to former President Bharrat Jagdeo for the harm I’ve caused to his credibility and character. For without knowing the facts, I had committed an injustice by judging him too harshly.
As a PPP/C Member of Parliament, I am living proof that the man holds no grudge, and is committed to working with anyone who genuinely holds the national interest at heart.
Knowing Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo as I do now, the conditions under which he was able to transform a bankrupted Guyana into a thriving economy while dealing with an obstructionist, non-cooperative PNC Parliamentary opposition, has strengthened my resolve and confidence in his leadership, his love of country, and his desire to improve the quality of life of all Guyanese regardless of race or ethnicity. And despite the many accusations made against him by his enemies, I can honestly say unequivocally that Bharrat Jagdeo is NOT racist. The APNU+AFC will be convinced of this after the 2020 elections results are announced.
The attack on Jagdeo’s character is a deliberate, sustained effort to undermine the PPP by discrediting the Leader of the Party.
During the Second World War, Adolf Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Joseph Goebbels is credited with these words: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
One such lie perpetrated by the APNU+AFC in opposition, now in government, is that Bharrat Jagdeo and former PPP Ministers are corrupted. That, under the PPP/C Administration, billions of dollars was stolen from the treasury. The second lie is that Jagdeo and the PPP are racist. I have seen no evidence to support this ridiculous allegation, and it is an indisputable fact that Afro-Guyanese prospered more under the PPP than at any time under the PNC. Even today, Afro-Guyanese are not exempt from the sufferings imposed by the Granger Administration on the Guyanese people.
The third lie perpetrated by the Granger-led Administration is that Guyanese are now enjoying the “Good-Life” under the APNU+AFC. But while there is conclusive evidence of massive taxation; high unemployment; the suppression of the rice and sugar industries; an unacceptable surge in the crime rate; a declining economy; high cost of living; and the devaluation of the Guyana dollar, which now pegs against the US dollar at GY$230.00, our citizens are now waking up to the harsh reality of this big, fat lie because they are the ones suffering under this government that promised “a good life for all”. I will have much more to say in the coming days
Harry Gill MP -PPP
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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