When enough is enough!

By Rajendra Bissessar It would take a lot to list the wrongdoing of the PPP. The list is well known and includes nepotism, favoritism, and the giving away of Guyana’s patrimony to friends and foreigners through secret lucrative deals. The corruption of the PNC pales before that of the PPP. Just recently we saw Cabinet intervening and giving China Railway a huge contract for the construction of the East Coast Demerara four-lane road by objecting to the company that was selected by the Central Tender Board as having qualified for the contract. We all know the relationship this company has with an ex-official of the government who was in a habit of giving away the people’s resources to his friends. And we must not forget that this government has not held Local Government Elections for over 17 years and now that everything is in place, the government is actually refusing to set the date for the elections. The Local Government system is in disarray. Too many councilors and many of those on the lists have died or migrated, and so the local communities have become rudderless. As a consequence, their communities have fallen into disrepair. Local government elections, so vital to the lives of our people, are not being held because the PPP is deadly afraid of facing the populace, and so garbage is not being collected and the drains, canals and streets have fallen into disrepair. Today we are seeing the government in its death throes scurrying to repair some streets, hoping that the streets would bring it votes. The government has allocated $10,000 per school child this year. This amounts to a little more than $800 per month. A pittance, while they are diverting billions into the pockets of their already rich friends.  Former President Jagdeo gets over three million dollars a month in pension. They refuse to disclose how much more is expended on him.  While the Minister of Health says we cannot afford to buy MRI equipment for our hospitals, the Former President took a trip abroad on a luxury jet because he had dengue fever. On the other hand, the old people who served Guyana faithfully are receiving a pittance, and even this would have been much less if it was not for the agitation of the AFC. The rags to riches in record time of some government ministers and their friends contrasts glaringly with the plight of especially the small farmers, the sugar workers, the carpenters, the masons, the bauxite workers, and especially the unemployed, which percentage seems to be a state secret. The youths, the graduates are without jobs, hence without a future, a life filled with despair. There are those who think that nothing would change, but the last elections demonstrated a vote of no confidence in the PPP government. The PPP was the incumbent, in full control of the government and Parliament, it had the state resources at its disposal, it had money to burn from the cronies it helped to get rich. The fact that it still lost the majority demonstrates that the people have begun to realize the betrayal of the Jagans’ legacy as pronounced by no other than Jagan’s daughter at Babu John during one of his memorial services. This betrayal is recognized by the majority of PPP supporters. The only thing left for the PPP is to instill fear into its supporters by pointing to the atrocities of the PNC. But the reality is that we fought the PNC because of such atrocities. Can we now condone the same kind of atrocities because it comes from the PPP? We have seen that this deterioration, betrayal and massive corruption of the PPP caused myself, Gerhard Ramsaroop, Prakash Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo, Ralph Ramkarran, and other genuine stalwarts, to abandon the PPP.  Continued support of the cabal that has hijacked the PPP spells abandonment of all we fought for, spells abandonment of our youths, our country and our future. And as if I have not said enough, the PPP has descended to another level of abandonment of all that the Guyanese people struggled for, universal suffrage – the right of every adult to vote for the government of their choice. You will conclude, and quite rightly, that you exercised your franchise and you are right, but that franchise was to determine who controls the highest decision-making body in the land, parliament. It is parliament that makes the laws, and very importantly, it is parliament that determines how the taxpayers’ money is to be spent. The voters of this country put the parliament of Guyana under the control of the opposition. The opposition prudently cut areas where money is being wasted or misspent and the government moved to the court, and the court in the opinion of many lawyers, ruled incorrectly that parliament cannot cut the budget, but approve or disapprove expenditures. The government was fully aware that certain expenditures would be “not approved”. To by-pass this, the government bundled monies that the opposition would most likely not approve with those it would, thus forcing the Opposition to “not approve” the entire bundle. The opposition did not just “not approve” but informed the government that it would support any supplemental brought before parliament to cover the areas it wanted to approve. Instead of doing this the government, for political gains, screamed that the workers cannot be paid and that some needed programmes cannot be funded. Months passed and still no supplemental Appropriation Bill has been presented to parliament. Lo and behold, the government is presenting a statement of excess to cover monies spent by the government for May and June. Monies not approved by parliament. The government is asking the opposition to now vote in favour of monies it spent illegally. But it still has not brought a supplemental Appropriation Bill for monies to be spent for the rest of the year. The reasonable assumption here is that it would continue to spend illegally and unconstitutionally, and then come again in a few months asking parliament to approve another set of illegal spending, as it refuses even now to present to parliament Supplementary appropriations. What is in fact happening is that the PPP has run roughshod over the highest decision-making body in the land, to remove any control over what it does with the people’s money, and wants the opposition to support its dastardly act. There is no way that the Alliance For Change can by any stretch of imagination support this Bill. There is no way the AFC can approve this illegal spending. It cannot support the emasculation of the sovereignty of the people that is exercised through its representatives in parliament. The PPP, through its own seeming madness, has created a constitutional crisis. In fact, the PPP by its actions has torn this section of the Constitution to shreds, clearly demonstrating no respect for the Guyana Constitution and the rule of law. It is now saying it can spend what it wants, when it wants, how much it wants, where it wants, without the approval of parliament. Anyone in my opinion can appreciate why under these circumstances the AFC has commenced serious discussions for a motion of no-confidence in the present PPP government, as this government has now signaled that it is above the law, above Parliament, and above the Constitution of this land. This sad state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue as all are involved, all would be consumed.

Does Granger and Ramjattan understands constitutional crises when they wanted the president to sign an illegal bill? Does the speaker of the house knows anything about the constitution when APNU filed motion of no-confidence against Clement Rohee? President Ramotar is ready and willing to face them head on with another constitutional bull shit.

Jabba the Hutt ramotar will want to cut his tenure by 2 years. This "put up or shut up" screaming is just bluster. He want all t he time to be sucking on the nations teat.

No one wants to hear this old ropey rass talk shyte ok?

Let her haul her wirey rass somewhere else.

It is time for the people of Guyana to get rid of the PPP the time is now. How come the PPP scared of elections now?

Even if an Election is called tomorrow the P.P.P is fully geared to contest the polls...and be victorious....Bring it on A.P.N.U/A.F.C.

Fully geared? is dat why Rohee running scared like a gerbil in a snow storm at freedom house?

Is dat why the PPP is in overdrive calling the PSC and calling all their stooges to convince the opposition that this is a bad move?

who u foolin? yourself?

The P.P.P is not scared, should the" no confidence vote" succeed, the joint opposition has a fair idea of the likely hood of the outcome...no wonder APNU is so hesitant to endorse their sidekick ( the A.F.C)

I think you right, PPP not scared, AFC not scared but the APNU shitting brick.

LOL

Granja is screaming!

The AFC knows to their gut, its a hard task to survive until 2016 as a political gathering, so they are attempting to tabled a vote of no confidence, many believe its a bid to attract a ray of limelight.

Cut your wrist. It may ease your blood pressure.

ramotar sleep with burham constitution under his pillow,every day in freedom house the ppp put flowers at this constitution 

From all indications, the A.F.C stands alone with their "no-confidence" motion.

APNU parliamentarian James Bond in a letter in Stabroek News last week said that there is no point in having a no-confidence vote unless the AFC and APNU go to the national polls under one leader. “I…will not attach myself to that [no-confidence] wagon unless the AFC and APNU after attaching themselves to this wagon decide that they would contest the next general elections with one representative of the list,” he wrote. “It would be utter foolishness for there to be a vote of no confidence in the House and when we are out of the House we divorce and go our separate ways,” Bond said.

What the hell did she do to Miss Conscience?

The stage is set for the A.F.C to publicly shamed themselves, Seven AFC members will stand alone in the National Assembly with their "no confidence" motive...lmao 

Oh, to be the former president!

Much has been said recently about the Former President’s benefits, and really, there should be no argument that having served in the highest public office, he is entitled to a package that allows him to maintain a very decent standard of living. The issue, then, is not whether the former president should have a superior pension and benefits, but how these would impact on a country with limited resources at its disposal. Having served for just over ten years in the public service, he now takes home 220 times more than the average public servant who had to have worked some forty years to receive a meagre pension.  For a party espousing the principles of the value of labour in keeping with its communist philosophy, this has got to be the most glaring example of “do as we say but not as we do…” The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government in the last days of the Jagdeo administration realized that because of its policies of hegemony and favouritism there would be a backlash, and sought to mitigate this by instituting certain bills that in all reality should never have been passed.  The Former Presidents’ Pension Bill is one such piece of legislation.  This has got to be revisited now that the PPP no longer has a majority in parliament. Just think, one citizen, regardless of what he may or may not have contributed, becomes the immediate beneficiary of a King’s ransom.  Does this even begin to make sense?  Any right-thinking person would immediately understand that there can be no justification for such an outlay by a country with our limited resources.  In the case of Jagdeo, this should never have been allowed as, this law, instituted under his presidency, should only have been available to Presidents coming after him.  Where in this world would you assent to a law that benefits you personally?  Of course, this is Guyana and anything goes. Just think about this: we have one man who lives alone in palatial splendour with an electricity bill at home that exceeds the amount used by some small businesses.  Does he have lights on in every room all the time and keep the air-conditioning running when he is abroad? How can a private residence run up a monthly electricity bill of some $300,000? Is there industrial manufacturing going on there? It is even more interesting that he seems to be more on the travel circuit than he is at home. But nothing new there!  This has got to be ludicrous.  He travels more than the sitting President and has the right it seems, with all he already gets, to foist this bill on the taxpayer, as part of his benefits package. How can he in all honesty justify this, even to himself?  Where has morality gone? The government protests when it is asked to raise the salaries of public servants by 5%.  A nurse takes home just around $60,000 per month, and it is expected that this will look after his or her needs and pay all the bills.  It is no surprise then that the former President opts to fly out to the United States for medical treatment.  Any reasonable individual in his position would be very worried to have those high-priced doctors attend to them knowing this. People at Linden lost their lives and others were injured when they protested against an increase in their electricity tariffs as they could not afford it, many of them were unemployed. But, here we have one man foisting on taxpayers, including those people at Linden, a monthly bill of $300,000 to electricity flowing to his house…strike that, Palace! Where has our sense of rightness gone?  We sit aimlessly by and allow this administration to hoodwink us like frogs under which the water boils, without realizing that each day they continue to force more and more heat up our rear ends. As a people we have got to see that this administration is taking more and more for themselves and their cronies and the Former President’s benefits package is just one glaring example that we must not allow to remain on our statutes. No true statesman, or person of high moral standing and deep regard for his people would have assented to this bill or would have affixed his signature to this bill, and we must understand from this that both Jagdeo and the PPP, who passed this bill, have only their own interests at heart. Every other Guyanese has to suffer while those closely associated with the PPP administration utilize the country’s resources for their own personal ends.  That Rohee can suggest that this is not exorbitant only tells us more clearly that they think we will believe any nonsense they tell us. Can you afford a $300,000 electricity bill every month?

Oi Councie I notice you walkin around with your own hanky, here, you left it up deh

Oi Councie here again is one of the reasons there is talk of no confidence

If Barack Obama was to start collecting a pension at the same time as Bharrat Jagdeo, he would be entitled to US $199,700 per year. Bharrat Jagdeo gave himself US $180,000 per year. Bharrat Jagdeo pays no taxes on his US$180,000. Barack Obama will have to pay US federal taxes of 33 percent and Illinois state taxes of five percent on his US$199,700 leaving him with US$127,109 in pension. Compare that to Bharrat Jagdeo’s US $180,000 tax-free pension paid for by the sweat, blood and tears of the working class people of Guyana and you get an image that makes you want to truly vomit in disgust.

Oi Councie,

Guyanese people can’t afford to buy chicken in their own land and stagger under the weight of financial burdens, corruption and PPP misery, always thinking of running away to a good and immensely better life in the USA, Bharrat Jagdeo pays himself more than the man running the country which many in this dear land of Guyana see as the land of milk and honey, the good old USA. Barack Obama, the President of the great nation of the United States of America that gave hundreds of thousands of poor and fleeing Guyanese a place of opportunity and success, will collect less in pension than the Champion of the Guyana Dirt.

This argument that the opposition's no confidence motion is baseless is complete and utter bull.

The implosion at Guysuco are clear grounds for a no confidence motion.

Jagdeo's pension at $200,000 per year with a 10% annual increase is grounds for this no confidence.

The Drug contracts going to the Jagdeo front called new GPC costing tax payers 5 Billion GYD per year is another reason.

The inability for Guysuco to pay NIS for sugar workers is another reason for the NC motion.

The Theifin that is occurring blatantly is another reasons for a no confidence motion.

Odinga lumumba and Joe Hamilton all have blood on their hands and should not be anywhere near government.

Put up or shut up, PNC and AFC.

A.F.C will stand alone with their foolish "no confidence" motion.

Even if the AFC's stands alone with this no confidence motion the AFC will continue to expand their base and grow as a powerful force which will leave APNU/PNC pissing in the wind.

If AFC moves forward with this no confidence motion APNU's hand will be forced to join otherwise APNU will lose a lot of folks who are already not happy with the Brigadier's lack luster leadership and the poor performance of the APNU under his leadership.

This could deal a devastating blow to the APNU where they will find it difficult to get supporters to come out and vote for them come election day.

The AFC  "no confidence vote" is its last straw...

tell the PPP to reach for it....it is not about camels and their load bearing capacity but about drowning men and straws!

Only a fool says there's no God.....Danyael a self proclaim Atheist can be categorized as one of those. 

Only a fool say there is something when it might as well be unicorns.

Baseman why this chap look like he is constipated on a full time basis?

Why don't you concentrate on the baseless no-confidence motion than getting personal with the president?

The AFC's no confidence motion is baseless, its clearly seen not even their goons can defend it.