Guyana’s leader of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Opposition, Aubrey C. Norton has accused President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of divisive leadership, nepotism, corruption and incompetence.
The leader made the remark on 17th September in Toronto, Canada at a Town Hall Meeting at the Tropicana Community Services, a forum he described as an opportunity for attendees to reminisce on old times, rub minds and share insight on the future.
Addressing Guyanese and non-Guyanese that were present at the Town Hall meeting, Norton averred that the current Ali-led tenure is a corruption-infested administration.
He alleged that more than 25% of the nation’s budget goes to corruption. The PNCR boss stated that the nation has the resources to improve the lives of the people but because of mismanagement, divisiveness and corruption, there is suffering in the land.
Norton continued that “In Guyana today, the government allows no competition, everything the government does undermine democracy,” vowing that “we can’t allow what is happening in the nation to continue”.
In his words, a government that marginalizes a large section of the country is not fit to govern the nation.
According to him, 71% of the government’s contracts goes to the People’s Progressive Party, friends, fans and favorites “and that is unacceptable”. He further revealed that another 19% goes to foreigners.
He promised that if he is elected as the nation’s leader in the coming election, “We will put the interest of our people first and the goal will be to put resources in the hands of the majority of the people”.
Norton was applauded by the audience when he said “we can’t continue to make the rich richer and the poor poorer”.
The opposition leader expressed worry that the current government does not seem to have interest in developing human resources. “The government continues to destroy the professional competence in Guyana. We need to return Guyana to democracy where people get jobs based on merit”
While promising that a new government in future will serve all the people of Guyana, he stated that the people of Guyana are entitled to free education.
On his part, MP Ganesh Mahipaul who bemoaned the government’s divisiveness and nepotism, urged the attendees of the meeting not to be distracted by propaganda aimed at degrading the PNCR.
“Fundamental mental problem that I have with the People’s Progressive Party is that they are not focusing on the needs of the Guyanese. Cost of living is sky high in the nation,” he said.
“As a government, one would expect that they would invest in the ordinary people and they would have used the oil resource that we have now to focus on Education, health delivery, agriculture and public works
“Instead we have a cabal that focuses on friends, families and favorites and they are enriching themselves and that is something that we have constantly fought against”.
He suggested that “If Guyana is to grow; we have to focus on our ordinary hardworking tax paying Guyanese”
Mahipaul expressed sadness that “My country is not one Guyana, what we have is a one sided Guyana with the only people who are associated with the PPP getting a piece of the party and they fail to honor the constitution of the country”.
In his words, the constitution is clear that anybody can associate with any political party or any organization of their choice and people must be respected for their choice
“I am a proud member of People’s National Congress Reform. I associate myself with the party because it is the most democratic political party in my country. It is a political party that allows us to gather like this, it allows us to speak our mind, say what we feel but it also allows us to be respectable to each other, respect the opinions of others, and it stands solidly on the grounds of democracy,” Mahipaul said.
He noted that if you compare the short time his party spent in office to the “23 years the PPP spent in office, 1992 to 2015, they have not done what we did for our ordinary hardworking people, they did not lift the standard of living, they did not promote social cohesion, they did not bring Guyana together, and bringing the nation together is where our strength lies”.
Mahipaul promised that the PNCR will always be about equity and equality for all Guyanese. “Do not be distracted, a lot of information peddling is being done in an attempt to degrade the PNCR…the party has respect for the constitution”.
He alleged that the ruling party wants him to join them “but I do not want to become part of a cabal that practices corruption at all fronts, that doesn’t respect the other side and doesn’t recognize that the resources of the country belongs to every single Guyanese”.
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