Latest update December 12th, 2024 1:00 AM
Jan 24, 2015 News
The atrocities the People Progressive Party (PPP) administration inflicted on the people of Guyana such as condoning a rogue Attorney General will result in a serious backlash for the Party at the General Elections.
That is the view of the Alliance For Change (AFC). The Party is remaining optimistic that even though the PPP is miles ahead as it relates to resources to contest elections, the fact that it has left a bad taste in the mouth of many Guyanese will result in a loss of power.
This was told to the media by AFC Vice-Chairman Moses Nagamootoo as he spoke at the Party’s most recent press conference.
Nagamootoo told reporters that victory at the polls would be like a “fairytale. “We are out resourced by powerful machine (PPP) but people are conscious of the gross atrocities committed by the PPP government.”
“So powerful they are that they hurt others. Guyanese heard of the threat of a slap to a young Amerindian teacher, they heard the story of the powerful and mighty Chatree threatening mayhem against journalists and may have heard about what played out in Paris.”
Nagamootoo was drawing reference to the similarity between the warning issued by Attorney General Anil Nandall to a Kaieteur News reporter that innocent people” working at Kaieteur News could be killed as a result of the types of stories the newspaper has been carrying- and the murder of twelve persons including journalists, at a Parisian Magazine recently – when gunmen stormed the premises and began shooting indiscriminately.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, in the profanity-laced recording, said he was a “Chatree” and the newspaper was wrong to cross his path.”
Nagamootoo told reporters, “So in this elections, we may be out managed as it relates to resources but the PPP will not be able to beat the feeling among people that there is an outrage being perpetrated against them and they would have no more of it; that is why I am saying that it will be a fairytale victory… they themselves won’t understand.”
Nagamootoo was at the time backing up his colleague within the AFC, Cathy Hughes, who was responding to questions on how the AFC will manage getting its message out with limited resources and barred access to the state media.
Hughes referred to a statement made by President Donald Ramotar to the effect that he is committed to free, fair and transparent elections and the fact that former President and PPP executive member Bharrat Jagdeo who recently headed the commonwealth observer mission to Sri Lanka prepared and presented reports on the minimum standards for elections, that can be categorized as free fair and transparent.
Hughes said that the travesties that Jagdeo outlines in Sri Lanka have become a norm for elections in Guyana but “I will be holding them to their word, I am happy that they have been informed and hopefully now they have learnt things will be different.”
The Member of Parliament said that in this regard she hopes that when she presents a programme to the state-owned National Communication Network (NCN) next week, “we will get nothing but acceptance as advertising is a minimum standard in free and fair elections.”
Hughes told media operatives that that the response of NCN next week if not positive will demonstrate that the PPP government has no interest in democracy, fairness or transparency “but we hold the people of Guyana responsible and we know they will do the right thing.”
The AFC should be able to, like any other political party, go to NCN to get airtime
The AFC executive Member said that for five consecutive Fridays she has gone to NCN with a programme and advertising insertion order, but was always turned down.
Hughes said that on one occasion she spoke to NCN Production Manager Wendy Hermanstine, “I had asked if there is any time during any day of any week of any month, any time at all in the 24 hours of the day, that the AFC can be allocated half an hour, and her exact response was ‘that is very tight.”
Hughes said that the AFC is finding it a challenge to get its word out “It is not fair play. It means that the AFC has to put people in all these communities walking up and down. We are competing with a government that is going to use all the state resources… all the jeeps, all the ATVs, everything that belongs to the state will be used to campaign for the PPP”.
She said that Guyanese in the interior locations are at a disadvantage but AFC will try its best to reach out.
Hughes said that for a government to say it won fair and square “would be to ensure that all parties had equal access, so at the end of the process no one can come say we didn’t win because we could not have gotten on NCN . So the onus is on the govt.”
Dec 12, 2024
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