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Yesterday as the world observed International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, President Irfaan Ali sworn in the new Commissioners to the Ethnic Relations Commission, as a symbolic gesture, which has not gone unnoticed given the tendency for form not substance in the approach to governance.
Guyanese would have observed the President, after more than two years in office, has given no indication of a vision, plan and commitment of what he is prepared to do, in substantive measures, to eliminate the scourge of racial discrimination in Guyana. There is no National Development Plan nor allocation of resources based on scientific and structured approaches to combat the problem here. Citizens have come to accept for his remaining time in office what they will get is more of the same.
None other than United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said we must resist, reverse, condemn and eliminate racism in all its forms, and address it wherever and whenever it arises.
All Guyanese deserve more than hearing from Mr. Ali that: “My Government remains committed to the process of eliminating all forms of racial discrimination. We work daily, long and hard, through our One Guyana Initiative, to promote equality, compassion, opportunities and stability for the advancement of all Guyanese.”
Platitudes are not an indication of commitment or moving to solve a problem that is taking a toll on society. The proof is in the eating. The absence of purposeful direction to address daily concerns and evidence of racial discrimination suffice as evidence the president is not serious nor committed to the ideals of realising our aspiration to live as “One People One Nation One Destiny.”
A nation injured by racial discrimination and sees no effort on the part of its elected leaders, particularly the President, to do anything substantive to reverse the scourge will not heal. The present situation only exacerbated racial tensions and divisions.
The Constitution of Guyana, which as a constitutional officer Mr. Ali has sworn to uphold, he frequently violates. In that constitution, all Guyanese are entitled to the same social, economic, cultural and political rights, and in particular to this situation, protection from discrimination on the grounds of race and where our political association is also aligned, similar protection is guaranteed.
As acknowledged by the president, 2023 is significant because it marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Conveniently forgotten is that this year also marks the 9th year of the International Decade for People of African Descent, four years of which the People’s Progressive Party has been in government and has done nothing positive to show off their efforts to reverse racism.
Guyanese are not deceived into believing the President’s utterance translates to care for a group or all groups beyond his narrow interest and political ambition. His administration has openly declared war on the citizens, in an effort to pit race against race, and deprive the people.
The Ali government continues to deny organisations such as IDPADA-G to effectively function as an entity in the world’s quest to reverse racial injustices. The government continues to deny independent trade unions the right to collective bargaining that would lead to the improvement in the quality of life for workers. The cooperative sector is being deprived of the space and support to be viable and independent entities as intended. The government continues to deny the constitutional right to free education from nursery to university, fair share of the national patrimony, among other important ranges of social, economic, and political rights.
The economic configuration of Guyana is not devoid of racial clusters. Whereas in other societies this would be acknowledged, and efforts made to ensure equitable and equal opportunities for all, in Guyana this becomes the mechanism to identify groups and target groups for discrimination.
A government committed to eliminating racial discrimination would not exclude groups from political involvement evident by the continual disregard for the political objective of the Guyanese society to forge an inclusionary democracy that would allow for the people to live in peace and harmony; the space to learn from, respect and appreciate each other as fellow human beings.
President Ali should not be allowed to divorce himself from political obligations and reality. The main Opposition, the A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), represents half of the society. He ignores the right of this political entity to actively engage in the day-to-day political processes by blocking involvement in the national decision-making, management and oversight as stipulated by constitution and parliamentary standing orders. The Parliament, the country’s highest decision-making forum, has been reduced to infrequent sittings.
The main Opposition represents a significant portion of the African Guyanese, yet President Ali’s government denies the citizens and their elected representatives the right to self-determination, to share and have their views and ideas incorporated at government level in furtherance of self and national development. The government does not possess monopoly of knowledge about what’s best for all the people and society.
President Ali has demonstrated an inability to grapple with serious and complex issues. He has failed to demonstrate respect for universal conventions Guyana is a signatory to and the Constitution of Guyana that guarantees the political, social, cultural and economic rights of all. A leopard does change its spots. After two years as Head of Government and Head of State Mr. Ali has not respected our political system and facilitate the aspiration of the citizens to live, work and dwell as a united people of this beloved country. We cannot expect him to do so now.
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