Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday said that the prospect of losing the upcoming General and Regional Elections has fully unhinged members of the coalition Government. In a post on social media, Jagdeo pointed out that this “spectacle/comedy” is now a daily treat from the Government.
According to the Opposition Leader, the most recent instalment of the coalition’s “lunacy” was Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman telling residents of an East Coast Demerara community that “God” put the APNU/AFC in Government and that he will intervene to ensure that they remain there.
“Apart from the stupidity of claiming that God is on their side (the colonialists also claimed that God was on their side while they were practising genocide in Africa and elsewhere), it is an affront to all God-fearing people to imply that God sanctions the daily acts of corruption by this Government,” he stated.
Jagdeo added too that it would, therefore, mean that God supports APNU/AFC’s taking away of 30,000 jobs from Guyanese; its $85 billion per year increase in taxation; its constant excuses for rampant crime; its sell-out of national patrimony through inept negotiations; its introduction of policies which resulted in a deterioration of healthcare and increased cost of living; its impoverishment of Guyanese of every race and political persuasion while expanding the perks of Ministers and their families and cronies on a daily basis.
“And he implies that it is God who is telling them not to comply with the Constitution of Guyana,” Jagdeo stated.
Believing their own lies
Jagdeo added that the second instalment came from the Chair of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Volda Lawrence, who said at a press conference on Friday that a new voters’ list will give them enough seats to “stave off a Charrandas attack”.
“They have started believing their own lies. Only people in an advanced stage of necrosis of the brain would think that a new voters’ list and not your policies and track record will cause you to win an election,” he noted.
The Opposition Leader went on to outline that the voters’ list that was valid until April 30, 2019, was used for the last four elections – two national and two Local Government – but the APNU/AFC never found it was “corrupt” until after the passage of the No-Confidence Motion which required fresh elections within three months as mandated by our Constitution. He contended that elections should have been held by March 21, but the coalition is clearly trying to further delay the polls, hence the demand for House-to-House Registration.
However, Jagdeo noted that it is not the voters’ list that the coalition is worried about but it is the wrath of the Guyanese people, whom they have betrayed with false promises.
The Opposition Leader further posited that this “tragi-comedy” will continue today when Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo continues with the illegal “Cabinet outreach”, which is costing the taxpayers over $1.5 billion – travelling this time to Jonestown, Mahaica, to spin another pathetic story and make another promise that the Government has no intention of keeping.
Last month, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the No-Confidence Motion tabled by the Opposition in December 2018, had been validly passed and, therefore, general elections must be held within a stipulated timeframe.
But despite publicly committing to upholding the regional court’s ruling, the coalition continues to operate as normal, insisting that it is awaiting the consequential orders to be handed down on Friday on the way forward.
However, some Ministers and public officials have made statements that not only defies the CCJ rulings but even the CCJ’s jurisdiction here – despite Guyana recognising the court as its final appeal court since 2005.
The first such statements were made by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who said the coalition is not prepared to call elections unless House-to-House Registration is carried out regardless of the CCJ’s decisions.
Days later, Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams voiced her blatant disregard for the Trinidad-based court as Guyana’s final court of appeal saying that the CCJ has no authority to issue any consequential orders since Guyana is an independent State with its own laws.
