from Face Book Page The Voice of the Guyanese Diaspora
There are a few things that can be taken away from this election but none more poignant than there is no distance that can separate a patriot from his country.
This very (FACEBOOK) page, was born out of patriotism; by Wayne Forde who took to video-critique to expose the demise of Guyana to those of us who live abroad and, for many of us, it was the incisive commentary and the unbridled accusations spoken in these videos that made us pay attention to what was really happening under the past regime. As opinions poured in and commentary continued, the opportunity to convert to a forum for constructive critique forged its way through, yielding The Voice of the Guyanese Diaspora and I will go as far as to say that this medium, with its spirited conversations and bold calls to action to our Opposition elements, was part of the catalyst that yielded the change we celebrate today.
The power of opinion and the strength of collectiveness of purpose are formidable weapons in any revolution. This was the fuel that drove this page. The closest we came to declaring any partisan alliance was to declare that were unequivocally and unashamedly Anti PPP. Their ideology is one that remains racist and their desire to lead is rooted in devilish desire to misappropriate our country’s wealth for their personal gain, at the expense of pauperizing the rest of our nationals. Their leadership was laughable and landed our country into the lowest parts of civility when measured by international yardsticks and it was this demonstration of wanton lawlessness that disqualifies them from leadership, indefinitely.
We spoke of these things tirelessly and without fear of repercussion and in doing that we attracted an assortment of members from everywhere Guyanese live. Some came to offer solutions while others came to offer obstruction but in the end it was the obstruction with solution that made enough noise for our politicians to realize that we wanted them to work for us; not for their parties or themselves.
Change has come because we have spoken. Partisan efforts were paused because politicians were told in very loud voices and particularly on social media that they were expected to serve us and not their ideologies. They heard us when we said we were tired of the politics of racial division. They heard us when we said we wanted leadership and not leaders. They heard us when we said the party is only as strong as its ability to satisfy the needs of the citizens. They realized that we were right when we said that neither APNU nor AFC could eject the Behemoth that is the PPP. So, they came together and gave us the Coalition, the APNU AFC amalgam, which is the beginning of healing for our beloved country.
Moving forward, we will retain our stance of non alignment to any party and will support a government that works for the people. We will continue to offer our ideas, make suggestions, call on leadership to meet the needs of the people. It is our opinion that they have had enough time to strategize on how to dismantle the unsound structure of governance erected by the PPP. They’ve lived through it for two decades and of necessity, must hit the ground running.
It is typical for leaders to make promises to meet a ‘first one hundred days’ goal. We want something less ceremonial and more operational. We want to see simultaneous groundwork for improved infrastructure, job opportunities for the un and under qualified, a revised education curriculum for our children. We want a Ministry of Home Affairs that works to protect our borders and to protect our citizens at the police level. We want to see the documentation of the flood of immigrants who have been given greater standing than too many locals. We want to see the selection of heads of Ministries and other offices based upon ability and not upon allegiance. We want to see the revision of our Constitution so that it can be a document of simple guidelines to effect decent living and not a manifesto that can morph in to a weapon for unsavory leaders. We want real conversations on the cancer of racism; women’s issues; child abuse. We want a lot of things but that’s only because the parties that have formed this winning coalition have had a lot of time to strategize, analyze and have made a lot of promises as single entities to make the sweeping changes that are necessary to propel Guyana forward.
As we welcome this new government and offer them our support, we want to declare one thing. We will continue to be The Voice of the Guyanese Diaspora and will engage concerns with the same fervor that we have addressed pre-election infractions. We are here to support you not because of partisan ties but because of patriotic binds to the land of our birth. We will be critical of measures that are self –serving and will hasten to voice our opinions on matters that we feel should be of priority. Particularly, we will not be silenced by the pejorative reference to our expatriate status -the weapon of choice for many politicians who do not have answers to our questions. Instead, we will continue to use our non residency as a platform to view things, literally, from the outside and, thus, as a means of offering unclouded thoughts on matters of government.
We, also, want to congratulate every Guyanese who has contributed to this moment that has forever changed the arc of our country’s history. Irrespective of which side we fought from, it was our collective efforts that made this moment possible. Our country is too small to be as divided as it has become and it is too economically dependent for us not to include every employable citizen in our work force. We have aired our grievances, have shared our differences but must now put the repair and restoration of our country ahead of politicking. I invite you- our Face Book Friends from the other team- to stay with us, to be a constructive part of the Voice that will be in the ear of our popularly elected government.
Finally, I say, on behalf of all of our members, we salute you Guyana, land of our birth and we will continue to serve you, from every corner, from every walk of life, over every border, for as long as we are able.
With Tears In My Eyes
verian-mentis barker