Opposition cannot be trusted – Minister of State

DPI, Georgetown, Guyana, Thursday, November 2, 2017

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon says the Opposition cannot be trusted to be guardians of the nation’s patrimony.

Minister Harmon, speaking on Saturday, October 28, at the Clonbrook Primary School noted that recent threats by the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo to withdraw from the Border Commission, are a good indicator of the Opposition’s unpatriotic stance, as he urged the citizens not to trust the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and its leader, with the country’s patrimony.

“They are unpatriotic and do not have the country’s border and territorial integrity at heart”, Minister Harmon stated.

Jagdeo had make threats to leave the Border Commission following a meeting between himself and President Granger, during which he was informed of the President’s decision to appoint retired Justice James Patterson as the head the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM.)

“Before Jagdeo was down the stairs, he was on the phone with the media talking about what his party would do, and the first item he spoke about was the work of the Border Commission. No matter what happens in a country, once you are talking about border and territorial integrity, you come together because today you might not be in government [but] tomorrow you might be in government. And you still have to deal with this 216000 sq km, which is Guyana! So, when that was the first thing to come out of his mouth, it reminded us that when he was president he said one of the things he considered to settle the border issue when he was president, was to give Venezuela a piece of our land. This is a man who wants to give the impression that he has your interest at heart. What kind a man is that? Minster Harmon questioned.

In addition, he described the Opposition Leader as having no moral authority to question President Granger’s integrity, whom he recently described as a liar and untrustworthy following his disagreement of GECOM Chairman Justice James Patterson’s appointment.

“Our president, has been married to one wife for forty something years; a man of god. This is a man who goes to his church every Sunday where ever he is. A man who recognises the right and the power of women, and that woman should not be marginalised. When you stack up a man like this against the fellas on the other side, I don’t know what you get?” the minister asked.

In his address to scores of residents of Anns Grove and neighbouring communities, the Minister of State reminded that the opposition was bent on creating divisions since losing the May 2015 elections. “After the PPP lost, they tried to do all kinds of things in that election (2015). They tried to push in fake statement of polls and all those kind of things, but every time they put in the fakes, the people pushed it out. Then they say they want recount of A, B and C, and when that didn’t work they said they don’t want Surujubally. Since then we recognised that they are sore losers and we recognise that you are going to have problem with this party, that believe they have the transport for Guyana.”

“The fact of the matter is that after the 2015 elections, the PPP who felt that they have the transport to Guyana and should never have left office, were defeated by the A Partnership for National Unity / Alliance for Change (APNU / AFC) coalition, but they couldn’t accept that because when you got a transport, you feel you are entitled”, Minister Harmon added.