Domestic security equally important as external interference – Prime Minister Nagamootoo
─ “Guyana cannot let political desperation destabilise the country”
DPI, Guyana, Sunday, January 27, 2019
Guyana, dating back to 1969, has experienced external threats to its sovereignty. However, in recent times, the country has been facing internal intimidation, something which Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo views just as serious as external meddling.
National security according to the Prime Minister has wide-ranging scope and includes protection from conspiracies and incitement to overthrow a lawfully elected government.
In his weekly column “My Turn” in the Guyana Chronicle (January 27, 2019) Prime Minister Nagamootoo stated that “domestic security is just as important as external interference.”
The Prime Minister was referring to the December 21 vote and the ongoing investigation that is a matter of ‘national security’ into the former Member of Parliament, Charrandass Persaud.
The Prime Minister said that the Opposition would like the country to believe that President David Granger, together with his entire Cabinet, could be removed from office by a simple majority vote by a ‘rogue MP’. However, the Prime Minister highlighted that the circumstances surrounding the vote remain suspicious.
“What is revealing is that the MP did not only sell his assets and shut down his law practice that was located in this region. He was also loaded with U.S. currency, hence his gambling at a local casino and his scramble to lock down a million-dollar gold deal,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
He said that while the police could not give details on the ongoing investigation, the Prime Minister noted that all indications are that the former MP was bought which led him to cast a vote that Guyanese widely deem as unlawful.
Turning his focus to the Opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo, the Prime Minister described his attempt to regain power as “sheer desperation.” Threats by the Opposition leader to sabotage foreign investment in the sugar sector could destabilise the country the Prime Minister pointed out.
“He seemed opposed to divestment and modernisation which his own regime had canvassed as he now threatens to reverse any privatisation agreement. Such careless talk could destabilise the country. It could be exploited by anti-national elements, and it could render Guyana vulnerable to interference from external forces,” he said in the Column.
With that, the Prime Minister said that he shares similar sentiments of President David Granger that Guyana needs “total national defence.” Prime Minister said that “we cannot allow political desperation to take our country down the path of destabilisation.”
Isaiah Braithwaite.
Image: Department of Public Information.