After 60 years of independence, one thing is pellucidly clear: Guyana has never had as weak a political Opposition as presently exists. The leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed, does not seem able to debate the Government on its policies and programmes. His party is similarly missing in action. The PNC-led APNU is missing in action too, seemingly leaderless and rudderless.
Azruddin Mohamed, on a daily basis, makes allegations of corruption without any single piece of evidence. In the last two weeks, he has alleged that the President corruptly owns a farm and the Gas-to-Energy pipelines have ruptured and are leaking. His evidence for corruption is that the President’s farm is too modern and the gas pipelines have ruptured and are leaking, because he said so; never mind there is no gas going through the pipelines yet. His party, his paid political commentators and the usual anti-PPP diehards are now preoccupied with talking about the farm and the “leaking” pipelines.
A strong and effective democracy cannot survive or thrive without vibrant Opposition. The present Opposition believes that Opposition politics mean antagonism and hostility. Instead of representing people, they continue to insist that they did not lose Elections 2025. Instead of debating the Government’s policies and programmes, they continue to ignore them and focus on hate and anti-Government slogans. For more than nine months now, their focus has been on corruption, but with absolutely no evidence.
Thankfully, after rigged elections in 1968, 1973, 1980, 1985, and a rigged referendum in 1978, Guyana has had elected Governments since 1992. This is a starting place for building a democracy. No one can deny that the usual suspects have tried to cheat and to rig elections in 1992, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2015, and 2020. Presently, a number of persons are before the courts charged with fraud and with conspiracy to rig Elections 2020. Those same usual suspects violated the constitution that required an election before March 21, 2019, when they lost a no-confidence motion in Parliament, finally forced by the courts to conduct the elections in March 2020. But, by and large, the institutional arrangements have ensured that Guyana does not fall back to the ignominious period of rigged elections that we experienced between 1968 and 1985.
Opposition politics cannot continue to be based on justifying defeat at elections through cheating. The Opposition continue to insist that the President and his Government have ignored them. But the same Opposition continues to insist that the President and his Government are illegitimate. The time has come for the Opposition to concede defeat and to respect the will of the people. Right now it appears that the people have been abandoned by the Opposition since the Opposition is deeply and merely engaged in one thing – keeping the LOO, by any means, from being extradited to the USA to face criminal charges. This is utter betrayal of the people.
A large part of Opposition politics in Guyana today is devoted to the chastisement of the Government for discriminating against Azruddin Mohamed. They behave as if the President of Guyana had indicted Azruddin Mohamed. Lost in all the misrepresentation is that Azruddin Mohamed has been indicted by the US Government and not by President Ali or the Guyana Government or the police. The Government of Guyana and the GRA have crimes they can charge Azruddin Mohamed with. There are also serious crimes for which he is suspected to be involved in. But the local authorities have either not proceeded to charge him or have withdrawn charges they previously issued so as to allow the US to litigate their case against Azruddin Mohamed.
While it is understandable Azruddin Mohamed might want to use people and Guyana’s politics to find a shield against facing criminal charges, it is not acceptable for the rest of the Opposition to forget that they were elected by the people to provide legitimate, responsible Opposition to the Government.
Systematically questioning policies, demanding transparency, and holding leaders responsible to the electorate is what Opposition parties must do. The umbrella mantra that people cannot eat roads and bridges is not responsible Opposition; it is not a policy critique. Which road, which bridge, which school, hospital, stadium or airstrip that the Government is constructing is not necessary? Insisting that the only reason the Government is building these things is because they are merely creating an opportunity to give their family and friends a contract is dismissing the need for these important infrastructures. But in Guyana today, this is what Opposition politics has been reduced to. This is a betrayal of the people who voted for them. It is a betrayal of the citizens of Guyana who expect that the Opposition will protect their interests.
To their credit, VPAC, which did not earn enough votes to even get a leftover seat, has come out in support of the Development Bank, which has been established by the Government to provide collateral-free, interest-free loans for small businesses. The rest of the Opposition has not indicated any support. They, instead, dismiss the development bank as another scheme to provide handouts to the Government’s (PPP’s) supporters.
The present Opposition have before them a good example of what effective Opposition politics look like – they simply have to examine the playbook of Bharat Jagdeo and the PPP between 2015 and 2020. The PPP accepted defeat after Elections 2015, even with legitimate evidence of anomalies, and proceeded to challenge the PNC-led, David Granger-led APNU/AFC Government on every policy and programme implementation. Where they saw fit, they supported the Government, such as when the Government decided to take Venezuela to the ICJ. But on policies, such as increased taxation, including on VAT for water, electricity and education, they robustly opposed the Government. The present Opposition is clueless and MIA (Missing in Action), apparently unable to learn lessons.