We have an Opposition of hurt souls

Dear Editor,

We live in a time when information is the driving force behind shaping perceptions and perspectives. Whether what is disseminated is true or not entirely depends on how the population can comprehend — or rather, whether they are able to comparatively understand political statements from fact, logic, truth, and reality.

It is without question that we have a large portion of this country that is less academically inclined to understand the narratives they support, and that lack of understanding is being exploited by politicians — not for building a nation, but rather to score cheap political points.

Arguments from opposition politicians follow a trend, whereby simply whining and pointing a finger at the government is the only medium by which they show their existence: no solution, no alternative, nothing constructive to outshine the existing government, just an obsession with exploiting anything to cast blame for political relevance in the interest of seeking power.

Today, the political atmosphere has shifted from acting in the interest of Guyanese to now telling them what to think, where facts are replaced with conspiracies, where information overload makes it difficult to understand the truth, and where political opponents try to erase history to avoid exposing their own hypocrisy.

Editor, in the eyes of the sensible, it is clear that the playbook of modern politics is for power and influence. The cost? Expanding the current division within our country for generations to come. Is this what politics has come to?

What a shame! Gone are the days of politics with integrity, morality, and a large degree of conscience, where personal differences and attacks were considered irrelevant when it came to national development, where political debates were structured around discussion, not incitement of conspiracies, and where there was order, not a barrage of empty barrels desecrating Parliament with their “clown cart politics.”

Evidently, we have an opposition of hurt souls, where one faction is seeking protection from prison and the other is vexed because they believe they have been robbed of their “divine right” to rule.

These are individuals devoid of reality who instead lock themselves in a bubble, pretending to forget their actions in the past, seemingly blind to the development happening in front of them, and somehow speaking as if they have solutions to every problem, but whose performances stop when the camera cuts off.

These are the politicians who prefer their support base to remain uneducated and arrogant so they can avoid being critical thinkers and instead parrot, not question, whatever narratives they’re told.

Their cheap political intentions are so shallow that their support base is essentially being told to avoid government assistance just so their political idols can use that as justification to claim persecution.

The APNU+AFC, when in government, was probably the most hypocritical political establishment in the history of this country, because despite their outward presence of virtuous intent, behind the scenes they were the primary “schemers” of the division that exists today.

In 2014, they killed the hydro project for reasons they themselves cannot logically justify; in 2026, they are critical of the government for hiring power ships to support current electrical demand.

Think for a minute: had the project been approved in Parliament 10 years ago, the country would not be in need of hiring power ships today. Twelve-year-old Marlon Jupiter died in March 2026 because he was unable to secure the funds necessary to fight his cancer. The APNU were critical of the government for not having the infrastructure to provide these services, but in June 2015, it was the same APNU+AFC that killed the specialty hospital project.

Had that not been the case, that innocent child would have gotten access to treatment right here in his own country. In fact, the same APNU+AFC administration that promised “a good life for all” couldn’t even build one hospital, yet somehow managed to spend two billion dollars a year on dietaries (food to eat).

The APNU+AFC signed the oil deal and kept the signing bonus secret for two years, until public pressure mounted on them to release the details of the contract.^[1]

We saw what they agreed to, even the Global Witness report showed how much more Guyana could have gotten had they negotiated better^[2], yet they sit in Parliament today, like “brain-fogged barnacles,” criticising the government over the oil industry, when they were the ones who signed the deal leading to this same outcome.

Then there’s the NRF, which they passed while in government, essentially handing the bank card of that fund to the then finance minister with zero accountability in Parliament over deposits and withdrawals.

When that was changed, they turned it into a political embarrassment in Parliament, trying to physically bully their way to stop the vote, presenting an image of fighting for the right thing when, in reality, they wanted to avoid having to abide by the law governing the act and its several redundancies geared towards transparency, should they return to power.

The CoI they had launched to investigate GuySuCo recommended not closing the estates^[3], yet the APNU+AFC closed them anyway, displacing 7,000 Guyanese with no alternative for them to survive economically, all this despite their political campaign promise, prior to assuming office, that “we will protect sugar.” Today, they pretend to forget about it.

The WIN political party is no different; its mere existence today serves one purpose: to protect Azruddin’s bank account because he knows that if the US’ extradition request is successful, everything he earned through alleged illegal means will be flushed down the drain.

Don’t believe me? Take Roger Khan as a prime example. Azruddin was unknown before the investigation into his business dealings. He and his associates lived lavishly while many complained about the cost of living, did they care then? What changed? The sanctions did.

As ludicrous as it might sound, I am almost certain that none of his supporters ever asked themselves that question. His entrance into politics is a game he knows he is losing, since his primary objective, immunity, was miserably naive.

His claims of bringing fresh, radical shifts to the existing political spectrum are evidently hollow, as he engages in the same playbook as the hypocrites seeking power over the purse on the same side of the House.

WIN knows their support base will do and say anything for money, so they are exploiting this to curate his image as a modern-day Robinhood. But the reality is that he is fearful of the committal proceedings moving ahead, because everything he has spent the last year denying, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and gold smuggling, will be made public through these proceedings, for the whole world to see.

Guyanese assume his case before the CCJ was meant to fight off the extradition, but it was a delaying tactic^[4], meant to further curate his image, that’s why you saw him filming dogs and cows all over the place these past few months.

They knew they would lose, but time was more important. Now that he has a whole month before the proceedings continue (courtesy of our legal system), there is no doubt we can expect more bizarre and seemingly desperate attempts to paint himself as a “messiah” for the people, possibly even finding another issue to raise in the courts to derail and delay proceedings further.

While the government pushes ahead, they are not perfect, they have a lot of internal cracks that need to be fixed. But the facts remain: we can see and feel the visible changes nationally, all of this happening outside the typical noise of opposing politicians who are segregated from reality.

Therefore, the question must be asked: what is more important, national development for the benefit of all, or fighting behind certain politicians who seek only to benefit themselves?

References

1. APNU+AFC has not said how much of US$18m signing bonus spent on border controversy fees - Stabroek News — www.stabroeknews.com ↩
2. Statement on the withdrawal of Global Witness's report on Guyana's oil ... — globalwitness.org ↩
3. REPORT — www.parliament.gov.gy ↩
4. CCJ rejects Mohameds' appeal, clears way for U.S. extradition case to resume - News Room Guyana — newsroom.gy ↩