Dear Editor,
Is the PNC, and by extension the Coalition, serious about national unity? The PNC in Opposition has always used one strategy; and that is: to incessantly grind ‘corruption, racial discrimination and marginalisation’. This game plan is outdated and outmoded, and reflects the incompetence which has embodied the PNC.
There is drastic need for an immediate metamorphosis, since this strategy has been the foundation on which racial disharmony is perpetuated. This very idea, which is implanted in the minds of PNC supporters, has always resulted in PPP supporters being targeted during protests engineered by the PNC. The mayhem which ensues: the burning, looting, damage to property, physical violence, rape and sexual assaults, will never allow the healing and unification process among the races to take place.
The PNC and its partners are guilty instigators and perpetrators of racial strife and division among the races in Guyana, and it is time they put Guyana first. We cannot afford the old PNC baggage, there are other strategies which can be pursued; just learn from the master strategist Dr Jagdeo.
The Opposition is crying corruption, but where is the evidence? There must be more than a perception of corruption. When the PPP/C was in Opposition, Dr Jagdeo, in his weekly press conferences, would highlight the corrupt practices of the Coalition, and provide evidence that is corroborated by the yearly Auditor General’s Report.
Moreover, where is the ‘racial discrimination and marginalisation’? The PPP/C Government has treated every Guyanese in a fair and equitable manner. There is equal opportunity for employment, access to education, medical and health services, housing, cash grants and subsidies, flood relief, et cetera. In addition, every community across the country is benefitting from the massive road and infrastructural drives which can be seen taking place on a daily basis. Again, let the PNC submit the evidence of marginalisation.
I would submit that it is only a lazy person who would not grab the many opportunities provided by this Government. Why blame the Government for your poverty-stricken life, when you are the main architecture of that situation?
This Government has made tangible progress in its quest for One Guyana, and this can be seen from the numerous visits to PNC support-base areas across the country, where the Government has been reaching out and resolving the issues affecting the residents of those areas; some issues were resolved immediately.
These are not useless outreaches as were done by the Coalition when in Government. This Government has delivered, who can deny this?
The PPP has always been the bastion of democracy and the prime mover for racial unity in this country. The PNC has always been the opposite. The PPP has always realized that since the two major political parties command the support of the vast majority of Guyanese, they have to be involved together to find acceptable solutions to existing problems.
Unfortunately, after failing for 5 months to rig the 2020 Elections, the PNC wants its supporters to believe that the PPP/C Government is ‘illegal’, and will not be recognized by it. To add insult to injury, the PNC wants its supporters to believe that it was the PPP which rigged the elections! Ironically, the PNC is now seeking ‘redress’ in the Courts. The annals of this country are replete with graphic examples of the PNC’s past and recent misdeeds and atrocities in its quest for power. For the PNC, the end has always justified the means.
If the PNC has an iota of concern for fostering racial harmony, then it is incumbent upon its leadership to change its present course, embrace the PPP/C Government, and work together for the socio-economic progress of this country. The days of lies, deceit and violence are long gone. This country needs a responsible Opposition which would work in the interest of all Guyanese, and the opportunity beckons.
As a Guyanese, I am not asking for an apology for what the PNC did in the past, I am simply stating that Guyanese have suffered immensely, and it is our fundamental right to live in peace and harmony without any contrived strife. Guyana belongs to all Guyanese, and the vision for One Guyana must be supported. The spirit of togetherness and camaraderie seen at the Providence Stadium must pervade every stratum of this nation.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
