The A Partnership of National Unity, in a statement said, they find President Irfaan Ali’s acceptance of and response to the resignation of Nigel Dharamlall as minister and member of parliament “shameless, pathetic, callous, and unacceptable.”
According to the partnership, the president expressed no empathy for the masses who are shocked and outraged over the allegation of sexual abuse by Dharamlall of a minor. The 16-year-old in messages, which went viral, recounted a harrowing story of abuse inflicted on her, purportedly by the Dharamlall, at his house last December. The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, of which Dharamlall was the responsible minister, sponsored the teen last year for an indigenous pageant.
On Tuesday, the Guyana Police Force reported the Director of Public Prosecutions advised them not to proceed with the case because the “complainant gave a further statement to investigators that she wished to withdraw her complaint against …Dharamlall and that her decision was not influenced by anyone and that same was in her best interest.”
The APNU full statement follows:-
APNU’S REACTION TO PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI’S STATEMENT ON DHARAMLALL’S RESIGNATION
It has been reported that President Irfaan Ali last night accepted the resignation of Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall from the government and the Parliament. We find Ali’s statement to be shameless, pathetic, callous, and unacceptable. Irfaan Ali expressed no remorse or sympathy towards the unfortunate victim of his now ex-Minister alleged sexual exploitation and abuse. He expressed no empathy for the feelings of the masses of Guyanese who experienced, and continue to experience, shock and moral outrage over the injustice. He expressed no concern that the criminal justice and child protection systems in the country malfunctioned. Irfaan Ali expressed concern for none of that!
Instead, his sole concern was the image of his government. President Ali’s statement exposes the moral bankruptcy and self-obsession of the PPP regime. The PPP is not interested in justice, accountability, and the rule of law. The PPP is instead bent on putting its self-interest above the human and constitutional rights and welfare of our children, women, and citizenry as a whole.
We call on citizens not to let their memories and sense of moral outrage fade over these acts of atrocities by the PPP. The more the PPP regime believes it can act in any fashion with immunity, the more it will be disrespectful and dismissive of us as citizens of Guyana. And the more our lives and livelihoods will be endangered.
The President statement follows:-
Fellow Guyanese, as you’re aware, I am in Trinidad and Tobago attending the 45th session of the Heads of Government meeting of CARICOM and the 50th anniversary of CARICOM.
Tonight I want to address you in relation to the allegation that was made against Minister Nigel Dharamlall.
From the inception, I advised the population that I would allow the system to work. I would never and the government would never intervene in the system. We’ve allowed an independent investigation; the minister proceeded on leave to ensure that an independent investigation was conducted.
The Police did their investigation and also all the other agencies, including the DPP.
This evening, you’ve seen the statement from the DPP in which she has advised that she will not proceed on any charges against the minister based on all that is before her.
However, Minister Dharamall has advised that he will tender his resignation as the interest of the government is important to him and he will not want anyone to bring the government into disrepute.
He has also advised that these allegations have affected him personally and as such, he has offered to resign as minister and as a Member of Parliament.
I’ve, therefore, accepted his resignation as a Cabinet Member and a Member of Parliament.
Nigel Dharamlall has committed to me that he will continue to support and be a member of the People’s Progressive Party and also be supportive of the government.
So, as I said before, we have allowed the system to work. We have not intervened; from day one, we said we must trust the system.
Now that we have received the advice of the DPP, the Minister has asked to resign as Member of Cabinet and Member of Parliament and I’ve accepted that resignation.
Thank you.
