Foreign Minister Hugh Todd on Wednesday put the former APNU/AFC Administration on blast for the damage it did to Guyana’s international image, especially during the past five months in its attempts to alter the results of the elections and illegal hang on to power.
During his maiden budget speech, Minister Todd told the National Assembly that the new PPP/C will now have to work aggressively to repair and rebuild the country’s image on the world stage.
“What they’ve done in their last two years in government was to dismantle our political, economic and social structures, bringing mayhem to bear on this country. What we will do is rebuild Guyana’s bilateral, hemispheric and international engagements. Mr. Speaker, it has been broken. Most of our international partners and friends have removed themselves from the former government, because of the political crisis,” Todd said.
“Many felt that they were illegitimate and as such, most of the diplomatic engagements and international cooperation was put on hold. But I’m proud to tell you the lines are long, because the international community is queuing up to reengage with Guyana. Because they see Guyana as a viable partner in the development of the region and the hemisphere,” he expressed.
Even prior to 2019, when the former APNU/AFC government was not yet deemed illegitimate, Todd noted that the coalition administration was weak and ineffective on foreign policy issues. He gave as an example the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), a much-maligned strategy that was intensely criticized for having brought little to no tangible benefits to the people of Guyana.
Todd pointed out that when the PPP first left office in 2015, it left an abundant legacy in the foreign affairs arena, including the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), a globally renowned document that was able to secure the financial backing of the Kingdom of Norway, and the National Development Strategy (NDS).
