Dear Editor,
Some people have indicated that I should probably not focus on running for President in 2025 but wait until 2030 because the PPP/C has a lot of money to pass around. If I wait until 2030, they will have even more money to pass around, and our economy and society may be destroyed. The PPP/C will not win the next General and Regional Elections and one of the main reasons is that the party and government are not prepared to do what it will take to win. For the PPP/C to win the elections in 2025, it will require a culture shift in the party and government. Albert Einstein said that it is ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’
As a Presidential candidate, I will campaign around changing and transforming the culture in Guyana. We would like to see Guyana transition towards a more participatory democratic culture. Two aspects which I find admirable in the democratic culture of the United States are: one, the political culture of a society where ordinary citizens can register as Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Where ordinary citizens can openly say that they are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Where political leaders can call citizens and encourage them to go out to vote. This is a high level participatory democratic culture. All of this can happen without citizens being fired or harassed or harassed because of their political affiliation.
The second aspect is the involvement of intellectuals, experts, specialists, in the national discourse of the American society. This is a culture of a high level of national debate and discourse which promotes an approach that is fact-based, science-based, as well as and sharing of opinions. Academics, former government experts and specialists are always available to share their knowledge, expertise, experience as a part of that rich national discourse. Former government experts and specialists are recruited by media agencies to ensure that high quality of debate and information dissemination is continued.
In the Guyana context citizens get fired, harassed, for being members and supporters or even perceived supporters of political parties. Where are the professors, lecturers, other academics from the University of Guyana, other academic and technical institutions, and professional associations, to raise the level of narrative and discourse in the Guyanese society. We have gotten to a stage where citizens are afraid to share even their professional knowledge, opinions, etc., lest they are perceived as being political or criticizing the government. This PPP/C government from 2020 has gotten a thousand times more undemocratic than it was prior 2015.
Take for example, the government’s pursuit of Rickford Burke, Mark Benschop, and others, essentially because of the role they play in advocating for the rights of citizens in Guyana. The Guyana Police Force has issued an Arrest Warrant for Rickford Burke, for what? Simply for expressing his views. These men and some women have been made enemies of the state, for what? For expressing their views? Imagine Kadakie Amsterdam was charged with ‘inciting persons to commit criminal offence against the President,’ in Guyana, in 2024, for what? For a call, a stranger made on his social media programme, and I can go on.
I have worked in the international community for over two decades and being a rule of law and humans rights advocate, these developments in Guyana are of grave concern.
The Commonwealth Charter under the section Democracy states, ‘Governments, political parties and civil society are responsible for upholding and promoting democratic culture and practices and are accountable to the public in this regard. Parliaments and representative local governments and other forms of governance are essential elements in the exercise of democratic governance.’
The CARICOM Charter of Civil Society under the section Political Rights states, ‘Every person shall have the right to: (a) form a political party or organisation; (b) join a political party or organisation of his or her choice; (c) attend public meetings of political parties or organisations; (d) participate in the activities of a political party or organisation; (e) give expression to his or her political beliefs in a peaceful manner; (fJ make himself or herself available for nomination for and election to any public office for which he or she qualifies.
Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states that, ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’.
One of my major difficulties with this PPP/C government is that they are preventing citizens from participating in this so-called democracy. Citizens are members of a democracy and as members they have roles and responsibilities and if the government prevents them from participating then the government is by virtue of that action, weakening the quality of the democracy.
Take for example, GuySuCo when the government came into power in 2020, it fired or released several persons in management of GuySuCo, a logical conclusion is because there were supporters of the APNU+AFC government or perceived supporters, and I would add because some of them were black. However, those managers were more productive and professional than their successors, let us examine the statistics. GuySuCo’s management under the APNU+AFC government was significantly more productive than the management from 2020-2024. The 2016 total production was 183,615, 2017 total production was 137,298, in 2018 the total production was 104,641, in 2019 the total target was 90,246, in 2020 the total production was 89,000 tonnes of sugar; however, in 2021 the total target was 58,995, in 2022 the target was 58,025, the 2023 target was 60,204 and for the first crop for 2024 it is 6,737 tonnes of sugar.
How does the government justify its firing of the managers of GuySuCo in 2020, when the production from 2016 – 2020 was almost two times in some cases more than two times the production from 2021-2023 and many times more than the 2024 first crop? Are citizens employed based on their political affiliations or ability, skills, and expertise? How does the government explain to the Guyanese people that Senior Petroleum Coordinator, Gopnauth B. Gossai Jr., was given a warning letter and 15 days with no hisse for his role in the unauthorised reduction of US$214M, in questionable expenses by ExxonMobil to US$3M. This is two hundred and fourteen million US dollars, you know! Since 2020 this government has fired hundreds, maybe thousands of public servants for way less than what Mr. Gossai did.
How do you explain firing the managers of GuySuCo for excelling in their production as compared to the years 2021-2024 and promoting Sase Singh from GuySuCo, as the Ambassador to the European Union?
What is your plan to provide employment to those public servants who were fired for no reason and have not gotten any substantial employment since, in some cases some of them have not gotten any employment since 2020? Do you have any idea what those public servants who were fired by your government are going through to merely survive, even with degrees and masters degrees?
There is much suffering in the black community as a result of the actions taken by the government to fire public servants in 2020, as well as other actions. I did a modest calculation of the amount of income being lost in the black community as a result of public servants being fired and it is about $720 M being lost per year. This is using a calculation of 300 persons by an average monthly salary of G$200,000. It means that they have lost about G$2.8 billion dollars over the past four years. As president, I will set up a Reconciliation Fund, so those public servants can be compensated to regain momentum in their growth and development.
For the PPP/C to win the next election, they will have to be more inclusive. These are some of the direct decisions and actions the government will have to take: confirm the Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice; appoint representatives of the Opposition onto all or most state boards; allow the institutions more independence – the Guyana Police Force, the judiciary, the public sector, etc.; play its role of government by creating a conducive environment for both foreign and local business and investment, stop the racist and discriminatory approach to governance and apply a more inclusive approach; engage in substantial national, regional, and local planning; establish a Petroleum Commission that is accountable to the National Assembly; provide the public servants, including the teachers with adequate living wages and salaries, reevaluate its elitist bourgeois approach to governance and revisit Dr. Chedie Jagan’s working class approach to address inequalities; and finally, fire the second Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
I am of the view the second Vice President is like a tree trying to bear out of its season and it is time for him to leave mainstream politics, since he is a main part of the problems in decision-making in Guyana. There is a concept in psychology that states that ‘everything we do comes out of one or two emotions, either out of the emotion of love or the emotion of fear.’ The overriding emotion that influences the second Vice President’s decision-making, is fear. The Ethnic Relations Commission has launched a campaign to counter hate speech. The president and second Vice President should be very concerned about what is it that is happening under their leadership that has created the need for a national initiative to counter hate speech. Life is largely about stimulus and response, hate speech in this context could be seen as a response to some stimulus. The question must be asked, what is this initiative a response to?
It is time for a government that operates out of the emotion of love.
Yours faithfully,
Citizen Audreyanna Thomas
Presidential Candidate 2025
June 25, 2024