Just hours after President Donald Ramotar indicated that he intends to write the Leaders of the APNU and the AFC to invite them to talks, the two parties sent a clear signal from just across the road from his office that the time for talk has passed and its now time for elections.
For the first time, the two major opposition political parties used the one rally stage to express their disgust at the President’s prorogation of the Parliament and to sound the alarm for general elections.
Thousands of supporters gathered at the Square of the Revolution on Friday night and whenever prompted, roared their readiness for general elections.
Leader of the Opposition, David Granger danced his way to the podium to his party’s 2011 campaign song, Granger for President. He reminded his supporters that he is ready to lead the nation out of the PPP’s grasp. Mr Granger said Guyana’s major problem is the President and his party and it was time to move them out.
“We have a big problem and its a problem name Ramotar. Ramotar never accepted that his government is minority. Ramotar never gave up trying to control the National Assembly. Ramotar never accepted the budget cuts. Ramotar never accepted that he has to call local government elections but right now Ramotar is under a big test”, Granger said as he explained that the President was now faced with a “duck test”.
He said it is clear that the President of Guyana now believes that he is a dictator because “if it walks like a dictatorship and if it talks like a dictatorship, if it looks like a dictatorship, it is a dictatorship”. Granger said the President’s recent address to the nation and his decision to silence the voice of the people through the prorogation of parliament, all point to evidence of a growing dictator. The President he said, has shown no evidence of being a democrat.
According to the Leader of the Opposition, “for three years, he has not reached out to the 175,000 people who voted for the APNU and the AFC”. He told the rally that the President has failed to address the myriad of problems facing most of the Guyanese people from every section of the country. Granger said problems of poverty and crime, lack of resources and development in communities from Region One to Region 10 have not been addressed by the Government.
“It is not an Indian problem, it is not an African problem, it is not a Chinese or Amerindian problem, it is a Guyanese problem and it is a problem for all of us because the PPP has tried to establish a dictatorship over this country because they have fought for three years to prevent every good measure that we have brought before you”, Granger told the crowd. He said people all across Guyana are longing for development and the Donald Ramotar administration has not been able to deliver such development.
The APNU, he said, has proposed a Government of National Unity. “This seems like a big pill to swallow but we have realised that one of the biggest problems in this country is racial division. We have overcome racial division in A Partnership for National Unity and we are have not asked people to give up their race or religion or their food. What we have done is ask people to come to the bargaining table and discuss. Let us sit down like brothers and sisters, let us sit down as Guyanese and discuss the problems facing us”, the APNU Leader said.
President Donald Ramotar has said that he prorogued the Parliament to avoid the no confidence motion that would have been moved against his government.
Granger told his supporters at the rally that under an APNU government, “there will be no prorogation and under the APNU, there will be no dictatorship. Under the APNU, we promise you local government elections every three years, under the APNU we will listen to every single community in this country. We will not diss any community and we will not disparage anybody’s race or anybody’s religion”
He said the government has been ducking the issues and wants to duck the no confidence motion but it must not be allowed to do so. The Opposition Leader said he remains firm in his support of the no confidence motion against the President and his government and whenever the National Assembly meets again, the motion will move forward.
Before Granger spoke, it was the Chairman of the Alliance for Change, Nigel Hughes who rallied the crowd at the Square of the Revolution. It is the Alliance For Change that is moving the no confidence motion against the government and has successfully courted the support of the APNU for that motion. Together the two parties hold the majority in Guyana’s National Assembly.
From the time Hughes took to the podium, he reminded that it is time for Guyana and its people to stand as one. He said when the liberties of a people are under threat, “it does not matter which party y0u support, it doesn’t matter what religion you belong to, it doesn’t matter which part of the country you live because all of our liberties are threatened and we have to unite to remove this oppressive regime”.
Mr. Hughes said being on the same platform with the APNU is just the beginning of a very broad alliance of all Guyanese. He said “every single citizen in this country must stand up because we are not going to allow some President to sign a paper and turn us into a Kingdom”. He said “these are very serious times” and Guyanese should not take the issues facing the country for a “joke”.
Hughes noted that by proroguing the Parliament, the President has thrown Guyana very deep into unchartered waters and every effort must be taken by all right thinking Guyanese and the international community to correct the President’s move and to protect the democratic rights of the people of Guyana.
The Alliance For Change he said, will not be budging from its commitment to hold the Government of Guyana accountable.
Several other persons spoke at the Friday night rally and made it clear that they will continue their protest against the prorogation and will step up the fight for national elections.
The opposition parties intend to host their next protest event on Tuesday morning at the Square of the Revolution.
15th November, 2014
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