APNU/AFC have got to stop spreading the false impression that they were cheated

BY: HAJJI DR. ROSHAN KHAN SNR.

As the future of our country is entangled in a political tug-of-war between the two major political parties, I, the undersigned, wish to reiterate that I have no political priority, regardless of what some people may think.

With that being said, I wish to state a reality. I think that the few friends I have in the APNU/AFC might be upset with me for saying what I am about to say. However, this is a democracy and I have a right to speak my heart, especially against blatant and deliberate injustice and oppression. Although pained, I will speak my heart with words of energy, elegance, decency, and respect – something my Afro-Guyanese Educational Masters have taught me from Kindergarten to adulthood. It is because of this upbringing that I still refer to the President – even though he is in caretaker mode – as his Excellency, the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and his Ministers, because that is what they are, according to the laws of this country – albeit their governance has ended.

My issue is that the APNU/AFC have got to stop thinking and spreading the false impression that they were cheated. It is quite obvious from all the goings-on, the conspiracies, the deceitful manipulations, and erratic shenanigans that they were aware from the second day after the vote that they had lost the elections. Look at what you, APNU (PNC) – and I am sad to say, a party that I have had some excellent friendships with – is doing to the psyche of the Guyanese nation. Guyanese people are suffering! Our economy is in the doldrums! Mr. President, Guyana is broken! It is beaten and it is in the limping stage due to poor administration and hungry political power-persons.

Mr. President, Guyanese are no masochists (a person who enjoys feeling pain). Why am I saying this? Well, Mr. President, people have suffered in this country, since 2015. This was evident from the local government elections where the government and particularly the AFC took a whipping that was unheard of. After that, some token developments were done in particular communities where ethnic preference seemed to have been the criteria for growth and development.

Now Mr. President, how would you expect votes in the sugar belt? Even in those areas where the sugar industry was not closed down. How would you expect votes?   I reiterate to you Sir, Guyanese are not masochists – you cannot expect people to vote for you and you cannot try to create scenarios whereby the dead are alleged to have awoken and walked and voted and then walked back into the graves. You cannot expect people to vote for you when you cannot give an account of the D’Urban Park complex, as to the expenditure of funds to date (5 years). When over sixty percent of the mining industry, small and medium-scale miners have abandoned their claims. The revenue of the government and the way of life of the miners have been seriously affected. Over nine hundred employees of the bauxite industry are out of work to date. And, nothing was done in the housing sector by the coalition except for the few core homes. The East Coast Highway was really a project of the previous administration as is the Sheriff Street project.

But there is very little in reality that has been done to support business and industry in the country and therefore the coalition cannot expect people to just vote for them.

VAT on education was highlighted by me leading to a personal protest which many others joined, and other protests by others were also activated.  For that, I was marked, blacklisted, and affected in my business. Persons were sent to survey me and my movements but Sir, I used the opportunity to remind the political power block that the people are the bosses and not the government. The government can be replaced anytime by the will of the people even before elections if they so desire, and the government needs to wake up and smell the coffee. These were my exact words! For that, I was lashed out at with more targeting directed at me.

So, with all this in mind Mr. President, you have to realize along with your team that Guyanese are not masochists. We cannot take the pain and still love the pain givers. This also refers to Sophia, many of its residents have worked for me, and have told me that they voted against the coalition in the last Local Government elections and that they voted against them again in this elections.

Mr. President, I had predicted in the early days of 2015 to my management staff to watch my words come to pass, and I listed very keenly, as I usually do. I said, the poor people will get nothing from this government and as I said above, it was evident from the local government elections that the people were forgotten.  Mr. President, my word came to pass.