Executive Member and Chief Whip for the PeopIe’s Progressive Party, Gail Teixeira has rushed to the defence of her party and its General Secretary and Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo against criticism from the son of the party’s founding leader.
In a television interview and letter to the press, Dr. Cheddi Jagan Jr. lashed out at Mr. Jagdeo and the current crop of PPP Leaders.
But the empire has decided to strike back and in a letter to the media, Party Executive and longtime member, Gail Teixeira described Jagan’s criticism as nothing more than diatribe.
“Dr. Cheddi Jagan, junior, Joey’s diatribe in his recent letter published in the Stabroek News on Thursday, March 22, 2018, reflects the utter disdain he has held and continues to hold for the PPP and its leaders not now but for decades. Even before the PPP C won the first free and fair elections on October 5, 1992 he had little respect for the hardworking leaders of the PPP who dedicated their lives (and their families’ lives) to the restoration of democracy and free and fair elections”, she wrote.
She recalled that Dr. Cheddi and Janet Jagan were dedicated leaders of the PPP and there could now be no separation of them, but she noted also that the PPP has won elections without the Jagans at the helm.
“The fact that the PPP without the Jagans at the helm won the 2001, 2006, and 2011 general elections is a credit to the legacy of the Jagans and the PPP. Cheddi died 21 years ago but the PPP remains, moreso now under the Granger government, a relevant, vibrant, and critical partner in the body politic of Guyana; no solution to its advancement can succeed without the PPP’s involvement”, Teixeira wrote.
The PPP Chief Whip said it is surprising that Joey Jagan would now criticise the PPP and its leadership now when “it is this same party that he had no problem supporting in the 1997 elections becoming a Member of Parliament for a short time, and, again in 2011 as a PPPC candidate managed by the same PPP leadership he now berates in so vile a manner.”
She reminded of post elections violence in the past and questioned why the younger Jagan was quiet then.
“Where was Joey Jagan during the terrible days of the post-election violence and the most violent crime wave the country had ever experienced? Despite his dedication to his father Cheddi’s values, which is understandable, where was he in standing up for his father’s legacy and mother in those terribly demanding and dangerous times?”
According to Teixeira, Joey Jagan has become silent when it comes to “violations” by the current government.
“Why has Joey said nothing about the reversals in the economy, the downturn in the quality of life of Guyanese, the closure of the 4 sugar estates and the termination of over 5000 sugar workers, the termination of the 1,972 Amerindian community service officers-the first ones to suffer under the chopping block of the Granger government-and hundreds of public servants who happen to be majority Indo-Guyanese?”, she questioned.
The younger Jagan during his interview also raised concerns about corruption and perceived corruption during the PPP’s time in office after his father’s death. He has been outspoken about the lavish and extravagant lifestyles that many of the PPP leaders adopted and held onto during their time in government.
Teixeira also took him up on that issue, by claiming that “as to extravagance, whatever Joey believes the PPP leadership did, pales in significance to the extravagant increases in salaries, benefits and allowances of the APNUAFC government, their advisors, and bureaucrats, their cars, residences, bodyguards and numerous personal staff.”
In defence of the Jagdeo presidency, the PPP Executive member said “whether Joey and others like it or not, the golden era of the PPPC in government was the 2006-2011 period where finally after the post-electoral violence of the earlier periods and the heavy conditionalities of the international financial institutions to reduce the debt inherited from PNC rule, the government could recommence its national developmental agenda”
“And Joey, guess who was the President, your nemesis… Bharrat Jagdeo!”, she exclaimed.
Ms. Teixeira said Bharrat Jagdeo is the product of the Jagan’s PPP, of a different generation, a different style , a different methodology, but nevertheless he and his PPPC government furthered Jagan’s vision of Guyana.
She warned the younger Jagan that “no attempt to orchestrate a horribly inaccurate historical analogy with the Roman Empire will do the trick!”
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