Excellent move for national unity by Guyana’s new president

Editor: The newly elected president of Guyana made an excellent move for national unity when he invited his predecessor Donald Ramotar to join his unity government.

In his speech at the swearing in ceremony, President David Granger extended the olive branch in his quest for national and racial unity. Several attempts were made in the past for coalition governments,{{more}} but it seems as if Granger’s call last Saturday is most sincere. The former army brigadier will be leading for the first time ever a multinational, inclusionary government – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). plus Alliance for Change (AFC). The APNU/AFC coalition narrowly defeated the incumbent PPP, which was in power for 23 years. It was a keenly contested election and the opposition forces were led by Granger and Moses Nagamootoo of the AFC, who was a former PPPC strongman.

Granger said “let us now put the past behind us and live in unity and banish poverty, ignorance, fear and hatred.”

There is no doubt that the PPP lost the government because of allegations of massive corruption and former president Bharat Jagdeo made the situation even worse in his campaign, when he spoke about race and falsely compared his lavish life style with that of the founder leader of the party, Dr Cheddi Jagan.

His utterances prompted several influential Guyanese who were supporting the PPP and some who were on the “fence” to join forces with the APNU/AFC coalition.

President Granger emphasized that he will encourage lawmakers to be faithful to their office and said that his administration will strive to restore democracy. He appealed to Guyanese that the damage to the nation should not push them to allow hate to fester within their hearts, but serve as another driving force for all to be more determined to refashion the country.

The diaspora has been monitoring the campaign and the delay in declaring the election results via the numerous media in modern day technology, especially Facebook. An inauguration ceremony is slated for May 26, the 49th anniversary of Guyana’s independence, at the National Stadium.

Oscar Ramjeet