Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has fired back at former President David Granger, accusing him of distorting the historical record and misrepresenting key events of the past.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo stated that while he had deliberately chosen not to criticize Granger in the past, he could no longer remain silent in light of the recent misstatements made by the former president.
Jagdeo emphasized that his policy had always been to avoid engaging in direct attacks on Granger.
However, he said that he felt the need to comment when Granger’s statements misrepresented facts or omitted key truths. This time, Jagdeo took particular issue with a recent article in whiuhc Granger that claimed the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had actively undermined social cohesion in Guyana.
The former president’s comments suggested that hostility to social cohesion led to civil unrest, including violent street protests, the stoning of children’s school buses, and the disruption of the prominent business gathering.
Jagdeo responded firmly, stating that Granger’s assertions were both misleading and disingenuous.
“He insists on distorting the record,” Jagdeo said. “People are not paying much attention to his statements because they recognize the untruths or omissions within them.”
According to Jagdeo, Granger’s claims regarding social cohesion ignore his own administration’s failures.
Granger had established the Department of Social Cohesion during his tenure, but Jagdeo contended that it was a highly partisan body, more aligned with the interests of the People’s National Congress (PNC) than serving as an impartial government institution.
Jagdeo also questioned Granger’s position on protests and the constitutional rights of citizens. He pointed out that while Granger’s government faced protests during its tenure, including over the delayed elections in 2020, the PPP was now being accused of undermining social cohesion due to similar protests that emerged in response to Granger’s own actions.
“The people had a democratic right to protest when they felt their constitutional rights were being violated,” Jagdeo stated. “What Granger did was fly in the face of those rights. He violated the constitution when he rejected 18 nominees for the chairmanship of GECOM and unilaterally appointed his own choice.”
Jagdeo further criticized Granger for not calling elections promptly after his government lost a vote of no confidence in December 2018. He noted that Granger had delayed the elections for more than a year, prolonging his time in office without a legitimate mandate from the people.
“Now, Granger wants to accuse the PPP of disrupting social cohesion because we protested his blatant illegality,” Jagdeo remarked. “It is disingenuous for him to take that position, especially after he himself violated the Constitution and delayed elections for months.”
The Vice President also reflected on the broader implications of Granger’s rhetoric.
“The villains of the past will always come back and present themselves as saints,” he stated, adding that Granger’s narrative was a clear attempt to rewrite history in a way that absolved him of his own misdeeds.
