Dear Editor,
I would like to add a few opinions on the letter of Dr Randy Persaud, ‘No disillusionment with the PPP’ (SN July 11). At last someone not in any way associated with the PPP or the Government of Guyana, is not ashamed to openly identify with the Jagdeo regime. Dr Persaud must be respected and admired for his lack of cowardice. He could have done what 60 persons do every month – write letters in the daily newspapers here praising the Jagdeo government using false names.
Mrs Jagan wrote last week in the Mirror that nowhere else in the world can you find newspapers where the letter pages are so misused by their advocacy of hate than in the private dailies in Guyana. Which country is Mrs Jagan living in? Nowhere else in the world except in Guyana can you find newspapers, including Mrs Jagan’s own newspaper, the Mirror, where each month there are about sixty letters that heap praise on the government and denigrate government critics, all shamelessly written by people wearing masks? Against this background one should find Dr Persaud’s integrity refreshing. One hopes his missive will instil some decency in others to come forward and say that they support the PPP using their real names. It is one of the strangest occurrences in politics since time began that citizens are afraid to pen an open observation in favour of the government. Normally, it is the other way round – citizens are scared to be sympathetic to the views of the opposition
Having said that, I would hope that Dr Persaud debate us on his definitive statement that he supports the PPP based on its record of achievement in government. One would like to think that he is aware that in the analysis of the performance of a government it may not be intellectually elegant to include IDB and World Bank aid. They are not indicators of political ingenuity. All governments, including the worst violators of human rights, have built impressive physical infrastructure, handsome airports, large schools and good roads with grants and loans from the World Bank, IDB, and British and Canadian funding agencies.
Mr Jagdeo loves to trumpet his reduction of the debt burden. But he never does this in a comparative context. Ten other countries got debt relief similar to what Guyana collected, with three of them receiving more generous treatment than Guyana. Burkino Faso, with less presidential quality than Guyana, got easier terms than Guyana. If Dr Persaud is going to outline the record of achievement of the PPP government one hopes these mundane and banal gifts from international lending agencies are not elevated in the statistical outlay. I honestly believe that if CN Sharma became president, IDB grants would be at the same level as they are now.
If he chooses to reply, I wish he takes into consideration the PPP’s record in the areas of law, political culture, use of power, race relations, administrative culture of the public sectors and trade union relations. Finally, it must be a weird country we are living in. First, Vishnu Bisram tells us that his latest survey on Guyanese politics reveals a high percentage of popularity for the President. Now, Randy Persaud writes about the record of positive results of the Jagdeo presidency. But the same Dr Persaud describes an insurgent movement that wants to subvert the Jagdeo administration.
Why would a president be popular, have a record of achievement and yet be confronted with an insurgency? Was it something he did? Or were the insurgents just wicked people who were absolutely insane and there was nothing the government could have done to prevent them? I hope Dr Persaud has the courage of conviction to defend his support of the PPP by facts and figures
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon
