Undemocratic forces will always be rejected – Guyana Chronicle

–President Ali affirms, says democracy, the rule of law are the foundations on which Guyana stands
–economic transformation, improvement of lives are visible everywhere

IT has now been four years since the previous APNU+AFC coalition administration attempted to rip the fabric of Guyana’s democracy.

Today, however, Guyanese are no longer being burdened with a slew of taxes and other hindrances to development, but instead are reaping significant benefits in all sectors, owing to the continuous efforts by the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to improve the lives of every citizen, President, Dr Irfaan Ali has said.

During a live address to the nation on his Facebook Page, on Saturday, President Ali spoke extensively on how Guyana has rapidly transformed, and there are now more opportunities for people in the nation’s rapidly evolving economy.

“Today marks that fateful day on March 2, 2020, when you turned out in your numbers, at the polls in our national elections and elected a government of your choice. I remain grateful today to all those who supported the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, to all those who worked tremendously hard in ensuring that our government was elected…. and ensuring that I became the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana,” he said.

The President underscored that the journey Guyana has embarked on has not been an easy one.

Dr Ali related to the nation: “Whilst we’ve achieved more than we’ve planned, exceeding the commitments we made in the manifesto, none of this should be taken for granted.”

Reflecting on the 2020 period, when there were attempts to wrestle away democracy from the nation, President Ali said: “It took us five months of struggle to uproot the undemocratic forces that were hellbent on stealing the elections, stealing your votes, destabilising our country and taking the seats of government by fraudulent means.”

He added: “We did not allow them then and we will not allow them ever again.”

President Ali made this commitment while drawing attention to the reckless comments about electoral rigging made by former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) General Secretary, Georgetown Mayor and Prime Minister, Hamilton Green, noting: “This would never happen again in the history of our country, because we the people of this country would never allow it to happen. Democracy and the rule of law are the foundations on which we stand.”

During the ceremony of the 101st birth anniversary of the PNC/R’s founder and former Head of State, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, Green said: “If, as I told one of the groups that I met this morning, they say he rigged elections, I say we should keep [on] rigging.”

The people, in 2020 went to the polls and peacefully gave a mandate to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to govern.

Guyanese, however, after casting their votes, had to endure a five-month wait for the results of the General and Regional Elections as they witnessed alleged unlawful acts and a slew of legal challenges.

During this time, the patience of the electorate was tested, as electors observed what was described as attempts by the then APNU+AFC administration to rip the democratic fabric of the nation with “delay tactics” which were openly criticised by a wide section of society.

It was only after the legal challenges and international intervention that a national recount of all votes cast was convened and the figures showed that PPP/C received 233,336 votes, while the APNU+AFC Coalition got 217,920 votes.

BACK-BURNERS OF DEVELOPMENT
Outside of the electoral impasse, reflecting on the state of the nation during the coalition’s rule, President Ali said many sectors were left on the back-burners of development.

The President pointed out how the former APNU+AFC administration failed to address the COVID-19 pandemic properly.

“Coming into office, after a government [APNU+AFC] would have spent billions of dollars on a COVID hospital, yet we met the shell, an incomplete shell with no oxygen line, no beds, nothing that resembles the hospital,” he said.

Within weeks, the PPP government, according to Dr Ali, made that facility functional, working 24 hours around the clock and saving more than 73,000 lives.

Additionally, in the midst of the ongoing battle with the deadly pandemic, the President recalled that there were still politically driven instigation by detractors of development to destabilise Guyana’s path to progress and prosperity.

“These challenges did not deter our efforts or slowed up our path towards progress and prosperity,” he noted.

The Head of State boasted that within the first 100 days in office, his administration removed more than 200 taxes that the previous APNU+AFC government had clumped on the backs of Guyanese.

Additionally, employment increased under the PPP government as many sectors were resurrected and rebuilt.

He related: “We reinvested in agriculture, reinvested in drainage and irrigation, building our productive capacity and capability. We inspired confidence, brought back the bauxite industry, creating 1000s of jobs,” adding: “That is the government you elected.”

The Head of State stressed that economic transformation of Guyana is visible everywhere, along with the social transformation of the ordinary citizens.