Now, if Irfaan for President is the answer, it would only be fair for us to look at the question.
And we found it, seemingly, in this policy questionnaire coming from Camp Irfaan for President and started looking at it for substance – but got sort of distracted by the article’s by -line… Dr. Ali … given the controversy around this guy and his sequence of claimed academic achievement…
…gaining a Masters three years before the Bachelors degree and an assortment of diplomas and certificates from as far as Athens Greece to as close as Ruimzigt, on the West Bank of Demerara and thought that this disconnected array of cross continental qualifications might make this candidate hyper qualified for the job of national administration.
And the dee-arr add on…
There’s this thing about the male leaders of the PPP that demands the presence of these 2 letters. Could be that they’re trying to emulate their original leader whose Dr. was respected because it was traceable, came with a timeline of attendance at a reputable institution of learning and came without the need to request permission for its use.
Bharrat’s is on loan, you may recall, only to be used with express permission from the University in Russia because it’s an honorary and not an earned title, which would have required his brain cells to complete an internationally respected curriculum.
And, Irfan’s comes only with blaring congratulations from every PPP published media organ on his “noteworthy achievement”, like the Indian Action Committee -but in no publication from the University of the West Indies… not even in Photoshop.
Whatever the shyness of the respected University of the West Indies to publicize the alleged achievement of this, now, authority in Urban Planning, it will unfold in due course…like the hopscotch path to the patchwork of certificates he claims, ultimately did.
But, right now, though, let’s focus on the bullet points Irfaan for President said should be asked and answered..and wonder why he only asked but didn’t answer…and see if we could help him along.
• 1)Are the policies and programmes making a difference in the lives of people, asks Irfan ?
Well, let’s direct him to this reputable source of economic data, Global Economy and look at what his party did since 1992 until their ejection in 2015 and ask Irfan why, during his Party’s tenure, growth was either negative or negligible and what specific plans he has to improve the hovering between death and flat lining that was growth under the team he trained with.
And Government Effectiveness ,that recorded negative numbers from 1996 thru 2015, would be a good starting point for Irfaan to share how he’ll reverse this double decade downturn.
• 2) Are our policies and programmes creating jobs …he asks?
Well, Irfaan, per source, between 1992 and 2015, Guyana maintained a steady double digit unemployment, averaging a staggering 13% of workforce, with males suffering about 11% and females about 14% during this period. We’re curious about the solutions you have to offer here.
You were part of an Administration that gave contracts galore to Chinese Contractors, Russian explorers and made small business licenses more accessible to Venezuelans, Brazilians and Cubans, with built- in “loan/donation” terms for Chinese ‘assistance’ being their dominance on the Regent streets of the country, selling substandard goods that would fail the consumption test of western countries, as they barefacedly hired underage employees.
Read from page 31 – 40 for starters, of this World Bank doc in case yuh forget and we could discuss the bribes and tax holiday part, if you feeling conversant.
• 3) Are our policies and programmes generating more income for our people…you ask?
Well, unless the source of income is honest, then we know from the unemployment figures recorded that not a lot of generated income was available during PPP tenure.
The Consumer Price Index- how much people had to pay for goods – source World Bank was on a steady rise from 1995 through 2015 when PPP was claiming over all national improvement.
And of necessity, we must look at the Rule of Law Index, usually a mirror of government, which enjoyed healthy negative numbers during the tenure of the Administration under which you trained; during that period when international criminal, Roger Khan, was the largest national employer.
You, tell us, Irfaan.
• 4) Are our policies and programmes improving the well-being of our people?
That must be a trick question, Irfaan because we would expect you to get that information as a practicing politician, quicker than the CIA.
And with international agencies like the Borgen Project that lists Guyana with 43% population living below poverty level and Pan American Health Organization decrying general and overall health provision during your Party’s Administration, we’re thinking you’re thinking that interested Guyanese just sit around and wait to be fed your propaganda.
Then:
• 5) Are our policies and programmes expanding social and economic goods and improving services? • 6) How are our policies and programmes impacting the pockets and bank accounts of our people?
These last two generic questions, posed by Irfaan for President as a campaign platform, we’ll just answer this way.
• 5 is an unclever variation of bullet • 1 while • 6 is an uncreative mash of • 2 thru • 4 …
…which brings us back to the questionable qualifications of Irfaan who seems to be having undue difficulty here with some simple multiple choice.
But let’s not lose the gravity of this situation.
To the peril of the people, Irfan Ali has been handpicked by Jagdeo who brought the country to the depths of itself, through a ruthless brand of authoritarian politics with collapsing utilities like brown running water and multiple hours of electrical blackouts for those without the luxury of water filters and electrical generators, to highlight the grimness of his rule.
This is what this party, the PPP and its Governments, under every one of its leaders, paid the people in political dividends for their vote.
Not a single PPP leader has changed the national outcome, ever, as statistics verify and uphold.
This is no coincidence.
So, after you’re done laughing at the ineptitude of Irfaan Ali, just let that sink in.
