PPP warns against politicians who are “reinventing themselves”

Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 June 2024, 20:01 by Writer

President Irfaan Ali addressing residents of Santa-Aratak Mission on June 25,2024

As Guyana slowly approaches next year’s general and regional elections, the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) has in recent days issued a warning to party supporters not to fall prey to recycled politicians who were part of an attempt to derail the country’s democratic process.

In clear campaigning by the incumbent party, PPP Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha on Monday cautioned residents of Santa-Aratak Mission to be alert to those who are “reinventing themselves”. Mr Mustapha referred to the multiple declaration of results in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) that had each given the then incumbent People’s National Congress Reform-led coalition of A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) a majority to retain overall power and “steal a whole country”. He also referred to Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes’ claim that the December 2018 no-confidence motion had not been validly passed by 33 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly because, in his view, the majority should have been 34. “Today, they want to reinvent themselves and they want to be the prophet of hope but we must be wary of them. We must never ever give them a chance again,” said Mr Mustapha who is also the Minister of Agriculture.

Mr Zulfikar Mustapha addressing West Demerara residents at Leonora

The PPP Executive Secretary’s position comes weeks after Mr Hughes was nominated and subsequently accepted to contest for the position of party leader at the AFC’s National Conference scheduled for June 28. He had publicly said that he would be available as a consensus opposition presidential candidate.

Speaking at a similar outreach at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, Mr Mustapha called on Guyanese to reject the opposition that is now saying that they are the alternative to the PPPC. “A person who try to deny the people their democratic right should never ever see the seat of power in our country once again. We must reject them and reject them in full force,” he said.

President Irfaan Ali, after reflecting on when the APNU and AFC had together used its combined majority of the National Assembly from 2011 to 2015 to veto a number of government plans and projects, emphasised the need for the government to have at least a simple parliamentary majority. “That is why it is important for us to understand how critical governments are, but how critical it is to give the government enough support to have the wherewithal, to have the parliamentary majority so that your development, your future cannot be stagnated,” he said. He credited Guyanese with the “collective effort that stopped the rigging of an election” in 2020.

Attendees at President Irfaan Ali’s outreach at Leonora, West Coast Demerara

In apparent reference to the controversies that had erupted in the PNCR over the internal process f0r its elections slated for the June 28 to 30 Biennial Delegates Congress, he said his PPP Congress held in early May represented Guyana’s racial diversity and was transparent, accountable and disciplined. “Right now, they have a congress and whole day they accusing each other of who thiefin’ and who ain’t thiefin’…If they can’t even protect each other, how they will protect the country,” he said. At Leonora, the President, in apparent reference to the AFC, said those who were running for political leadership were the same who had been trying to justify their own calculation of a parliamentary majority.