Granger should exert authority a recount of ballots – Asgar -says race issue needs t
President David Granger should exert his leadership and ensure that there is a recount of ballots and should take an example from the late President Desmond Hoyte and reach out to the PPP/C to work together, says former PPP/C Finance Minister and veteran politician Asgar Ally.
“As an economist and a former finance minister, I think that President Granger has to take charge of his party. How can you agree with the CARICOM to count the votes and have a member of your party stop them from counting the votes?” Ally told Stabroek News in an interview last Friday.
”Any prime minister, anywhere in this world, if his member disagrees with him will have to be sent home. I don’t understand why President Granger don’t put his foot down and let the votes be counted… ,” he added.
Almost four weeks after the March 2 general and regional elections, a winner is yet to be officially declared. With the vote count for Region Four marred in controversy, the PPP/C and other contesting parties are accusing the elections commission of electoral fraud in favour of a victory for the incumbent APNU+AFC.
Throughout the interview, Ally stressed that his views were in no way an attack on anyone. “This is not a personal attack on anyone, so I want it known that there is no vitriol. My views are simply put because I want the nation to know how we got here and how it should be dealt with going forward,” the former minister said, as he gave an extensive personal insight into the political history of this country.
Having lived in Jamaica for decades, before returning home in the early 1990s to serve, Ally said that Guyana is in a very critical state now politically, and coupled with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, would make the country unlivable for many and set it back years developmentally, if the situation is not addressed soonest.
“The country is suffering because there is no stability in the country. In my view, the PPP and the APNU/AFC have to work together. They have to work for Guyana. You cannot have disputes over the elections in such a blatant manner. When that happens, the people suffer, the country suffers and the country is put back,” he said.
“When I look at this, it hurts me to see all the effort Desmond Hoyte and [late President] Dr [Cheddi] Jagan just wasted. Dr Jagan gave me a free hand, Hoyte supported it and [former President Bharrat] Jagdeo supported it and Guyana did make progress. Why waste that?” he questioned.
Ally, who fell out with the then PPP/C government in 1994 paving the way for
Jagdeo to become Finance Minister, said that from analysis of this country’s economy, it has the potential to be a model to the world economically if its oil resources are used correctly. But he said that with no vision and political instability, there will be an increase in poverty.
Already, he said that the evidence shows that the reserves at the central bank are “not healthy” and “the growth for going forward is not very much.”
Pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shaken many nations’ economies and claimed thousands of lives, Ally believes that a global recession is imminent.
“There will be recession coming in…a big recession is coming. The world economy is contracting by nearly 30 per cent and Guyana is doing nothing to even cushion this future impact. That means we will have to climb out of that and grow again. Most of the developing countries that find oil end up with the Dutch disease. I don’t see Guyana being anything but facing a similar fate unless the PPP/C and PNC work together. They have to be mature and show the world that we can move Guyana forward like all the other Caribbean countries; Barbados; Jamaica; Trinidad and Tobago…,” he said.
“Today, Guyana is in the best position if its political problems are resolved to move forward in leaps and bounds. We have less than one million people and can make this work. What Hoyte, Jagan and Jagdeo did give was gave us a foothold to