After 47 years of tenancy, the People's National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Party has been forcibly evicted by the police for alleged unauthorized use of a government building in Lethem Region Nine and their furniture and equipment destroyed.
At a press conference on March 3rd, the day of the attack, vice president Bharrat Jagdeo said the building really belongs to the state, although it has been occupied "illegally" by the PNC for the last 47 years. He said the Government did not give any directive to the REO to demolish the opposition party's office.
“Let me make it clear, there was no direction on the part of the People’s Progressive Party to have APNU evicted from the building that they were illegally occupying. There was no direction from the central government to have this done. This was done at the regional level pursuant to the job that the REO have at the technical level,”
The incident has sparked widespread condemnation from the PNC/R faction of the combined A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) opposition. The party had reportedly occupied the building for over fifty years, but was forcefully removed in the wee hours of Thursday morning by members of the Guyana Police Force. While the PNC is calling it an act of state terrorism, regional officials have said that the move is consistent with recommendations from a 2018 Auditor General’s reports. The AG’s report had cited the non-approved use of government buildings throughout the regions. The AG report noted that over 100 government properties are being occupied unlawfully and government should take action to have the occupants ousted.
The whole thing just seems totally criminal. An act to block any political progress of a competing party, a common action across third-world bloc where government corruption looms large and the ruling party which has control of the legal gangs, AKA police and military, uses those forces to silence any opposition voices. Unfortunately like the JFK murder, no truth will ever be known and some patsy will be blamed, arrested and imprisoned for life. Just another sad day in Caribbean politics.
