AFC PRESS RELEASE

Fellow Guyanese; we in the AFC wished to inform you that the recent developments and secret back room deals between the minority PPP government and the APNU/PNC following the Budget debate in Parliament which ended on Tuesday leave more questions than answers. We firmly believe that these two parties which have ruled the nation for the past 48 years continued to deceive and betray the people of Guyana, especially the poor and the working class. We want to make it very clear to you the people of Guyana that it was the AFC’s position during the budget debate, that judicious cuts be made to the allocations for various areas of the government’s bureaucracy, especially those receiving super salaries of more than $6,000 US per month. Our goal was to secure their jobs by bringing them into the civil service where they would have union representation, thus preventing the government from using them as their tools, or fire them as it sees fit. In other words, we want to put an end to PPP cronyism and nepotism.

The intention of the AFC was to find the billions of dollars of tax payers’ money which the PPP have hidden away in slush funds in several private bank accounts. We believe that these funds should be in the Consolidated Funds. The AFC want to provide a decent increase to Old Age Pension and Social Assistance to our senior citizens but the PPP and APNU/PNC in their secret back room deals in the darkest hour of the night have agreed to pay our senior citizens the meager amount of $10,000 per month, while allowing Jagdeo a pension of $100,000 per day. The same amount of $100,000 per day will also be paid to Prime Minister Sam Hinds when ever he resigns. We in the AFC believe that this is unfair and will fight to reduce these huge amounts.

We also would like the people of Linden to know that we are proud of their support and oppose the secret backroom deals reached between APNU/PNC and the PPP to increase their electrical rates at this point in time. We in the AFC believed that the PPP and APNU/PNC have sold out the rights of Lindeners, the poor and the working class, just as they did to our Amerindian brothers and sisters over the years.  Further, the very party, APNU/PNC and its leaders which claim to represent the people of Linden have betrayed them.  The truth is APNU professes to represent Lindeners who voted en masse for APNU in the last election. Now APNU has turned its back on the people of Linden. The people of Linden can be assured that the AFC would never let them down or turn its back on them.

This is no surprise. Guyanese have grown accustomed to the PPP and now APNU treating the citizenry with shameless callousness. They have shown in no uncertain terms that they will stop at nothing to consolidate their power, maintain the status quo and ignore the rights of the people. The events of secret back room deals this past week have exposed a sickening truth of how the PPP and APNU/PNC are in bed with one another. We urge Guyanese to take heed of their actions and for them to know that they should not trust the PPP and APNU/PNC. Both parties are unprincipled and will promote their own interests ahead of the Guyanese people.

        The AFC continues to stand on a ground of principle with unwavering representation of the masses but was deliberately excluded from the secret meeting at the Office of the President which even some APNU members were unaware of. The AFC empathizes with those APNU members who were not informed of this secret meeting between Ramotar and Granger.

We in the AFC welcome the liberalization of television especially for the residents of Linden, but we want to assure the people of Linden and all Guyanese that this is not a gift from the PPP or they should not view it as a privilege but as one of their fundamental rights to have access to a multiple of television and radio stations. We squarely condemned the PPP for denying you your rights and the manner they have and continue to treat you and manipulate NCN and GINA which is funded by the taxpayers to promote PPP propaganda and to discredit you the people of Guyana and anyone who advocates on your behalf.

In the coming days and perhaps weeks, the AFC will redouble its efforts and recommits itself to the judicious reduction of the 2012 national budget by trimming ‘pork-barrel’ projects that give way to sweet-heart deals to PPP cronies. The AFC will not succumb to any pressure to compromise with the PPP and APNU/PNC to bargain away the rights of the poor and the working class for monetary gains from the corrupt PPP minority regime. We will continue to fight to cut some $3billion of taxpayers’ money from exorbitantly priced projects that would not be of benefit to low income earners are often done below standards. The AFC will not deviate from its position to fight for the poor and the working class even though it may be the only opposition party to take this stand.

  The AFC thanks the many persons who called to express their appreciation for what the Party was able to achieve during the budget debate. We want to assure all Guyanese that the AFC will continue to fight for the rights of all Guyanese in every region, in every city and in every village and will remain vigilant and question all government excesses and monetary waste. After all, it is you the taxpayers who should be the beneficiaries of all government sponsored programs and not just the PPP cronies. This is our solemn pledge to you the citizens of Guyana for we are your humble servants and accountable to you and you only.