The one main reason that Moses Nagamootoo gave for leaving the PPP is the unfettered corruption that was taking place under Jagdeo. He said that to him it had become unbearable and in private conversations with Jagdeo, the corruption was justified. Now it seems like he has jumped out the proverbial frying pan and into the fire. It took Jagdeo about five years to begin to be accused of corruption. In just one year this new Coalition is drowning in screams of corruption. The President, David Granger, placed his Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, on a committee to investigate the revelation of the Health Minister, Dr. Geotge Norton, about the pharmaceutical bond. Mr. Nagamootoo is now saying that the investigators (Not him. The ones he sent to investigate), lied to him about the capabilities of the East Bank warehouse. He said that they told him that it was unsatisfactory and strategically badly placed, but he is now finding out that that is a lie. So he has told the press that even though he has already reported to President Granger that what Dr. Norton did was right, he will do his own investigation because he does not believe that what he was told was the truth. In other words, Mr. Nagamootoo is now finding that there is corruption within the camp of the once trumpeters of transparency and anti-corruption. What is left to be seen is whether or not Mr. Nagamootoo was really interested in reducing corruption or if he was just fighting Mr. Jagdeo for political power. It would be a disgrace to his own name and that of his mentor and counselor Dr. Cheddi Jagan, for Mr. Nagamootoo to so weaken the PPP, sighting corruption, leaving the party and pulling their votes, only to now sit silently, in a cesspit of similar levels of corruption. After all, if as a Minister he could not stand corruption in the PPP, then certainly as the 1st Vice President and Prime Minister he cannot condone it in the PNC! But time will tell. However, the United Republican Party (URP) knows that Guyana, with its current crop of leaders, is a sinking ship. We stayed out of the APNU because we long envisioned this kind of behavior. The corruption horse is out of the stable. Corrupt pot is now telling corrupt kettle, he bottom black. When Juan Edgill can poke fun at the Granger administration, claiming that they tricked their supporters into believing that they were honest and transparent men and women. When Mr. Jagdeo could point fingers of accusation of corruption at the Coalition, and when Mr. Nandalall can show that the BK issue and the $1.1 billion was far from an honest settlement, the Guyanese people know that they have been taken for a ride. The only persons supporting this administration now are the soup-drinking PNC cronies and those who are afraid of the PPP’s skullduggeries and the backlash they will face if the PPP got back in power. The WPA is in shambles and the AFC is headless and beaten into subjection. Neither of them appreciates what is unfolding in the country right now but the force of Ministerial power is enough to tranquilize you and suck your tongue to the roof of your mouth, so much so that you become ethically and morally dumb. How Misters Nagamootoo and Ramjathan are accepting these unexplainable levels of blatant corruption, is still lost on the Guyanese people. Power is a corrupting force. Even the USA is coming out suggesting that there needs to be reforms that might ease these corrupt dealings. It is clear that when it comes to corruption within the PPP and the PNC no one can call the other back. There was a simple motion tabled by the PPP calling for all the Ministers to show how they got wealthy. It was a commonsense motion. However, the corruption is so pervasive that the motion was struck down. By the time 2020 rolls around the wealth of Guyana will be in the pockets of the politicians and their friends and family. God help Guyana. Please!!!
Ever since the 2015 election, President Granger of the APNU/AFC coalition government has made a number of statements regarding the role of government in transforming the economy. These statements are contradictory. It is a manifestation that the government does not understand the role of the government in the economy. The position of the United Republican Party stands in sharp contradiction to the government’s position and how this government plans to stimulate the economy to create the “good life” for all Guyanese.
It is clear to the URP that the Granger government is oblivious to the economic needs of the Guyanese people. Consider the following statements and actions by the government since its ascension to office in May 2015. According to Granger, Guyanese should be self-employed or seek self-employment in order to improve their economic status and standard of living. However, the government has not laid out any major economic policy or plan that would create public confidence in the economy, nor has the government encourage Guyanese to take on private initiative that would lead them to become gainfully employed. Second, before the elections, rice farmers, who form a major backbone of the economy, were promised that they would receive $9000 per bag of paddie. Yet rice farmers today have not seen that reality materialize, as regional markets close their door to rice produced in Guyana. Third, the government has not made any serious attempt to find local buyers for their cash crop, despite the fact that many of these local farmers depend on available markets to sell their products. Local farmers are left on their own to secure markers, and as such, Guyana’s ability to exploit the Caribbean community as a potential market source has not materialize. While Guyanese continue to struggle, government ministers did not hesitate to give themselves a 50% increase in salary.
The URP, a political party which prides itself on support for economic liberalism and a market economy with limited government interference since its formation in March 1985, views these statements and government inaction with great alarm. Guyana needs a government that works for all Guyanese. The URP shares the ideological belief that individuals are best capable of establishing their own economic initiative, which in itself will serve as the engine of growth, when government create the necessary conditions for such growth to take place. We reject the idea that an economy will develop with total government intervention or that an economy can develop and thrive where government plays a central role in controlling the economy, as in a command economy. Although the URP believes that economic liberalism may lead to some government regulation to ensure equality, we believe that such interventions should be limited and tempered with caution. So, while the government or state does have a role in ensuring that all Guyanese are entitled to free and fair competition, it has a specific, but important role to play in our economic development.
The URP differs with the current policy of the government. The Guyanese people need the government to create the appropriate investment climate so that individuals can become the engine of growth. For instance, the government is responsible for securing a market abroad for farmers who produce cash crops or rice for sale. Businessmen are not equipped with the careful understanding of all the type of regulations that exist between Guyana and its regional partners, nor are they keenly aware of the trade policies that Guyana has established with its neighbors. It is therefore imperative for the Guyana government to create the business friendly environment (negotiating bilateral and multilateral agreements with neighboring countries, establish trade policies, educate local businessmen about trade policies with neighboring partners, etc) that can promote the economy.
Instead, what we are seeing in Guyana is a situation where a government is simply getting by with ad hoc trade policies. In such a climate, it is the business community that will continue to suffer. The URP calls on the current government to create the climate that is necessary for Guyanese businessmen to become the engine of growth.