Blunders and mismanagement make Coalition return possible

Dear Editor,

The ruling PPP finds itself very delicately holding office. It does not take much for it to lose government. In fact, PPP is making many mistakes to embolden the PNC to pursue destabilizing activities. It is continuing the mismanagement of resources and personnel as occurred under the preceding regime, with little distinguishing features from the coalition when it comes to incompetence and institutionalized corruption.

As an example, Glenn Lall exposed the mismanagement relating to awarding land for house lots and businesses. Businesses walk into the Housing Ministry and get thousands of acres of free land while the poor people line up all day and may be lucky to get a house lot. Corruption continues! The PPP has also brought back some who were fingered in misappropriation of money in Foreign Affairs, Energy, Finance, Housing, Agriculture, Guysuco, NICIL, oil and gas, and elsewhere. Not much has changed. The PPP has continued the oil and gas regime as under the coalition.

The APNU+AFC coalition could return to power if things continue the way they are. The PPP is governing as though it learnt nothing from its 23 years’ experience, creating opportunities for the return of APNU. “Tricks, deceit, and conniving attitudes continue under the PPP,” as Mr. Glenn Lall said on last Friday’s live radio program. “Dey eye pass we” is correct, giving away everything to foreigners and “coming after we, the small man, for petty taxes.”

The Coalition is biding its time before it takes to the street to destabilize the government. The PNC has been busy strategizing on how to destabilize the government. There are hard-core racists in New York, Arizona, Georgia, and Guyana, spreading disinformation against PPP rule. And the PPP is repeating some of the same blunders it made during the post-Jagan period. The PPP has allowed PNC henchmen to situate within the PPP, fooling its leadership about being loyal to them when in fact they carry out the bidding of the coalition. And the PPP has not done itself any favors; it teams up with an array of unprincipled conniving persons who would do anything for money.

These characters jump from party to party; they are opportunists standing for nothing but enjoying the confidence of the party’s leadership and are rewarded with high positions and or businesses contracts. They make business deals for self-enrichment. They would do anything for money including abandoning PPP tomorrow to suit their interests. And there are those within the PPP who are rewarded with high positions including Ministerial portfolios for being loyalists but who had caused the PPP to lose power in 2011 and 2015. There are also a few total strangers to PPP activism getting Ministerial positions at the expense of hard working PPP stalwarts. All of these acts of the PPP leadership make for very fragile political survival of the PPP.

Meanwhile, the government is not taking measures to prevent violent instability. One must not forget that there was insurrection like civil unrest in West Berbice, organized by the coalition not even a month into the PPP administration. The instability that included arson, vandalism, and ethnic inspired robbery and violence shut down the country for several days. More such violence is coming, and the government is not preparing itself with an institutionalized response. I watch with great expectation what the opposition will do next having its attempt to rig the March election rejected by its Caricom partners and the Western democracies and the violence it encouraged in West Berbice. Political instability is expected after the New Year.

The coalition is determined to unseat the PPP administration. One need not be reminded that the PPP got only 51% of the votes or 33 seats. The coalition got 47% of the votes or 31 seats with one seat going to the small parties. Just one seat separates the PPP from the combined opposition.
In another election, a mere 8,000 votes taken away from the PPP and diverted to the opposition by hook or crook can return power to the coalition. This is not impossible to achieve. Creating political instability to make PPP look bad can undo the PPP.

In addition, the blunders of the PPP administration bringing back known scamps to manage state enterprises and government boards are breaking confidence among PPP supporters, many of whom are turning away from the ruling party. The administration has too many who are not up to the task and who have been tainted during its earlier stint in government. The party’s supporters are grumbling. President Ali should look to promote or recruit credible personalities with integrity to assist with governance and managing state corporations. The PPP losing more than 15K votes is within the realm of possibility in the next election to return the coalition back in power.

Yours truly,
Shawn Simmons